Like a Bullet
by Faery's Delight
Summary: When a darkness calls him home, Ichigo finds that his past is nothing compared to his present.
1. Like a Bullet Prologue

Title: Like a Bullet

Fandom: Bleach

Chapter: Prologue

Pairings: To Be Announced as I post

Word Count: 522

AN: So after a year of waiting, editing and fussing with this story, it is now out and ready to be read. I hope you enjoy the start _Like a Bullet_ and deem me worthy or a review, or two.

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Talent, as defined, is a _natural ability or a particular aptitude for something_. But the term Talent had also become used for those rare humans that had abilities that were reminiscent of the old mutant comics, but yet they were not mutants. Those who were Talents had abilities that were special to each person in only the way they were used for the good or for the bad.

There were three groups that worked for various reasons but always seemed to come in contact no matter how much they tried not to. The _Homicide Specialty Unit _had been created when a Talent had used their abilities to commit a very nasty near murder. Despite their name, they covered all crimes done by those with Talent, at least until the unit came under control of one Byakuya Kukichi, a transferred detective from Tokyo. When he could, he created sub units under the Specialty Unit titles.

The Unit made others uncomfortable due to their uncanny ability to combat Talents and their success rate in closing their cases.

But there was one group that they truly hated, one that they had yet to catch due to their very strong, very dangerous abilities. They had been given the name _The Bounts_ by the media for some odd reason, but the group had liked the name and taken it on for themselves. Since then, the Bounts had acquired a reputation for taking those jobs that interested them and only the ones they liked. They also did random jobs on their own, but as to why, no one was quite sure about that.

The Homicide Specialty Unit didn't just have a file on them; they had a series of file cabinets dedicated to the Bounts and their exploits.

But not all those who had Talents used their abilities for such cruelty and evil. Sosuke Aizen had started a group that used Talents to keep people safe and to help investigate crimes. He had been 20 at the time and had been in the business of protection most of his life, his parents running a larger bodyguard service that he ran his under. They were aptly named The _Guardians_ and never once hid that they had Talents but they rarely shared just what they were able to do. To them, there was no real reason to share. All anyone knew about them was that they had varying degrees of empathetic abilities on what they called a scale showing how strong or weak it was.

They enjoyed working with and for the Homicide Specialty Unit; had taken the time to cultivate and grow the relationship between the two groups. Over the years they had fought together, had nearly died together a few times. But they had just grown stronger and when the Bounts came up, both groups went up in arms, preparing to protect if there was someone alive, or to bring the Bounts down even harder if there wasn't.

What they weren't expecting was a group of friends and enemies, a horrific murder of three family members and an obsession to upturn and brighten their oh so dark world.


	2. Like a Bullet 1

Title: Like a Bullet

Fandom: Bleach

Chapter: 1

Pairings: To Be Announced

Word Count: 2,789

AN: I am tired. This wasn't supposed to be posted last week, and I have fixed that chapter to be the correct one. So enjoy.

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The call came late on a cloudy morning, drawing him from his tagging of several underskirts that they had just gotten in.

His hands moved with well practiced movements as he sang softly with the song that seemed to be more guitars and drums then lyrics over the store speakers. His eyes were dancing in pleasure as he looked around the very store that he had worked so hard to get up to perfection and out there. And it was all his, for the most part.

Somewhere around two years ago, he had taken the money his mother had put away during her life for him, which had grown under his godfathers' careful eye after her death, and opened the store with a new friend. This had been nearly a year after he had left his home around age 17.

And never once had he looked back, always living in the present and walking towards the future as Lolita's Dream grew in business and popularity. To top all of it off, his business partner, Uryuu Ishida, created quite a few of the specially designed outfits and often took commissions to draw even more money and business in.

Laughing softly to himself, he looked at the newest outfit design and wrote down a thought about the lace before continuing to tag the under skirts, preparing them for the late afternoon opening of the store. Finishing with the last skirt in the box, he looked up and frowned at his partner as he stood in the doorway, tipping his head to the side with a curious look on his face. Ishida looked very worried about something, face drawn and eyes blinking rapidly

"What's up?" he asked as Uryuu shifting on his feet, looking over his shoulder towards the phone.

"You have a call, Ichi-chan and I don't think it's a good thing," Uryuu said quietly. Ichigo swallowed, feeling nervous suddenly and put the pricing gun down along with the skirt he had just tagged.

"I'll take it in the back office," he said softly. Ishida nodded and watched his friend walk into their shared office space, admiring the way the floor sweeping skirt moved around his legs before shaking his head and moving to take over the tagging for his friend.

When Ishida had first met Ichigo, he had thought that the younger male would be some trouble maker who was running away from his home. What he had gotten as a sudden roommate was a young male who was an obviously hurting, and a cross dressing male who dreamed about the very store that they now owned.

When they had started to talk about the store and wanted to put the plan into motion, they had to beg Ryuuken to co-sign for the loan. After that, they had scrapped, sanded, fixed and painted the building mostly on their own; using their own money to pay for the contractors, electricians and inspectors as needed as they gathered supplies and product, creating their own to sell.

But during all of it, Ichigo's father had never come around; Ishida's own coming around often to help them when he found the time. And after they had opened the store, Ichigo's younger sisters had come to visit the store, but never came to visit at their apartment. It confused the hell out of him for just over a year and made him wonder about the events that had made his friend hurt and hide from his own father. Ishida knew about his mother and her death, but outside of a few random stories about his childhood, he knew next to nothing about his partner's past.

Shaking the thoughts out of his head, the dark haired male shoved his glasses up a pert nose and started to hang the tagged skirts on their specialized hangers, locking them into place. Looking to the office door that was still closed, he pulled out his phone, texting his father that something was up and that he was needed. Getting one back quickly as he hung the skirts onto a rack, he read that Ryuuken would be there soon. He sent back a confirmation and walked over to the office door.

Pressing an ear to it, he waited, hearing nothing from the other side of the door. Pulling away, Ishida frowned at it before finally opening it up and peeking into the office, eyes going wide behind his glasses as he spotted his friend.

Ichigo was sitting behind his desk, staring at the phone with wide, dazed eyes. But that wasn't what had shocked Uryuu, what had were the tears that were falling down in a near constant stream, streaking the pale cheeks with blue-black mascara. Cursing, he rushed over to Ichigo and touched his shoulder, drawing dark, pained eyes up to him. As soon as he locked eyes with Ishida, Ichigo gave a little choked sob and covered his mouth with one hand.

"What's wrong, Ichi-chan?" Ishida asked, reaching up to stroke the wet cheeks of his friend, feeling the stickiness of the mascara on his fingers. Looking around, he was quick to draw Ichigo over to their couch and sit down next to him, waiting for the answer.

"My dad... and sisters...they... they're..."Ichigo choked out, body shaking with his tears. "They were… They were killed," he gasped. A shocked sound slipped past Uryuu's lips before he pulled the sobbing Ichigo into his arms, letting him cry on his shoulder. He was trying to wrap his mind around the news that Ichigo now had no family in a way that was shocking at best and tear your heart apart painful at the worst. Rubbing at Ichigo's back, he cooed quietly in an attempt to soothe him, eyes pained for his friend as the cross dresser mourned the loss of his family.

Feeling the lean body slowly relax against him, Uryuu looked down and noticed that Ichigo was nearly asleep, fingers clutching at his shirt. Petting the soft red hair, he smiled slightly at the other as dull brown eyes looked up.

"Rest, Ichigo. Dad will cover for you and you can start to make plans to head over to the house tomorrow," Ishida soothed, getting a nod. Ichigo allowed himself to be placed back onto the pillows and sighed as the other man covered him with a blanket that sat over the back of it and moved to their small bathroom. Wetting a wash cloth, he came out to find Ryuuken smoothing a hand over Ichigo's head with a frown on his face, dark gray, almost silver , eyes looking up to catch his own dark blue ones.

"Let me wash Ichigo's face and then we'll talk out front," Uryuu said lowly, getting a curt nod before his father stood and moved out to the front of the store. Wiping off the tear marks and smudged mascara from his friends face, he stood straight once more. Cleaning his shirt, he placed the wash cloth in the bathroom again before he left the office, closing the door behind him and finding his father counting down the cash register, numbers falling from his lips. Ryuuken looked up from the money in his hand and gazed at his son, who just took a deep breath and moved to stand next to him.

"Ichigo received a rather disturbing phone call about an hour ago about his father and two younger sisters," Ishida started, Ryuuken putting the money in his hands down into the drawer, eyes starting to glow with his worry.

"What happened?" Ryuuken asked, worry seeping into his tone. His back stiffened as his child's lips thinned and his eyes glinted behind his glasses.

"They were, from what Ichigo has told me, killed. I don't know any details but it looks as if Ichigo won't be able to do much with the store for a month or so," he said quietly. Ryuuken blinked sighing lowly before he patted Uryuus' shoulder in sympathy and once more picked up the money, starting to count.

"I'll be willing to help run the store. I do suggest that you call around to your employees and warn them that their hours will be extending for a bit of time," Ryuuken finally said, getting a smile from Uryuu.

"Hanatoru is scheduled to be in about an hour or so to help with the first rush," Uryuu promised, moving to start stocking the shelves and racks. They would need to focus on the store during the working hours but they both knew that their thoughts would be revolving around Ichigo and what the cross dresser was going through and would soon be going through in the near future.

It wasn't until the next day that Ichigo found himself putting a large duffel bag and laptop case into the back seat of Ryuuken's car as Shuuhei, Hanatoru and Uryuu watched them. Their most loyal customers had given their favorite owner some quickly bought cards, the news of the tragedy hitting the news mere minutes after Ichigo had been called.

The employees of Lolita's Dream were more then willing to help cover Ichigo's shifts. They were also trading off who would drive across town to pick up and drop off paperwork.

The cross dressing red head had burst into tears at the out pouring of support, once more smearing his makeup, still feeling off balance. Ichigo had then hugged everyone and gathered his things, Ryuuken being the one who would drive him to his old home and make sure that he was set up. Looking up, he smiled at his friends and closed the door to the car, tossing his braid back over his shoulder.

"Thanks you, guys, for everything," Ichigo husked, voice deep from all of the crying that he had done in the last 24 hours. "Are you guys sure you have it?" he asked, looking over his friends. Shuuhei snorted and waved a hand at him.

"Don't worry about it, Ichi-chan. You go do what you need to do and we'll keep things running smoothly. And I'll come drop off jewelry designs and what not tonight," Shuuhei promised. Ichigo smiled and reached up to smooth a hand through the soft, dark hair that spiked up over his friends head.

"Alright," he sighed, trailing his fingers over the three scars that sat over his friend's eye and cheek. Shuuhei just smiled and let the smaller man do what he wanted, more then used to his friends more tactile nature. "Take care you guys. I'm just across town if I'm needed and I'll call to tell you guys when the funerals will happen," he promised, playing with Hanatoru's dark hair next, getting a soft smile from the doe eyed man.

"We know, Ichi-chan," Ishida drawled, getting a smirk from his friend. "Call once you're settled and can," he continued, stroking a finger down over Ichigo's nose, watching brown eyes go cross eyed on him.

"I will, I will," Ichigo hummed, feeling a smile tug at his lips even with the sadness that was still curling around his heart. Ryuuken came out of the store with several boxes on a flat bed cart and started to pile them in the back seat. "I'll finally be able to get through the applications and designs at the least," he said, eyeing the boxes with a soft sight. Everyone chuckled lightly and hugs were exchanged.

"Take care, Ichi-chan. Know that we're here for you," Hanatoru said softly, brushing his fingers through soft bangs and got a sweet smile.

"Yeah, I know. Thanks you guys, really. I will call, there's a fax at the house and maybe we'll be able to open another Lolita's Dream…" he said, trailing off as his eyes glazed over with tears. Ryuuken slid his arms around the lean shoulders and pressed a kiss to the back of his head.

"One step at a time, Ichigo-chan, one step at a time. Let's get going. Your neighbor is waiting for you and we don't want to keep her," Ryuuken hummed, smiling lightly as Ichigo nodded and sniffed. With one last round of hugs and goodbyes, they climbed into the car and drove away from Lolita's Dream, everyone else heading in to figure out their schedules while Ichigo was dealing with his families' estate. Gazing out of the window as downtown sped past them, he asked "Why does it feel like I'm going across the country instead of just across town?" turning his eyes to Ryuuken who just raised an eyebrow at him.

"Mostly because it's been so long since you left our side of town, since you even wanted to come to this side," he stated, watching Ichigo turn back to his window out of the corner of his eye. They once more fell into silence, Ichigo playing with his dark navy skirt as he watched the scenery once more.

"Did you know that when I first moved in with Uryuu, I sent all of my friends my new address? Hell, I called them once I had a number and not one of them answered my texts and calls," Ichigo said, as they pulled up to a stop light. Ryuuken turned to gaze at him with surprised eyes. Uryuu had never told him that Ichigo had tried to contact his old friends and he doubted that even his son knew about it. "People who I thought were my friends had turned on me when I came out gay and a cross dresser, and not a one of them had any sort of guts to tell me."

"What are you going to do if they show up?" Ryuuken asked, pulling away from the stop light, feeling his heart clench, but not showing the pain. He knew what had happened between Ichigo and Isshin, having been named Ichigo's godfather when he had been a mere babe. His mother had been the one to name him Ichigo's godfather much to his and Isshin's surprise, the man having wanted to name Urahara, Ichigo's uncle, as godfather. And in the long run it had turned out be a good thing when his godson had run to him.

"I'll be cool to them. They made their choices and turned their backs on me, and I learned to move on when I met everyone else," Ichigo replied, voice soft, pained. Ryuuken reached out and laced their fingers together, smoothing his thumb over the back of his hand, offering silent comfort. Ichigo squeezed his hand in return, the two falling into their thoughts.

Ichigo thought about what he had left behind when his father had kicked him out of his childhood home, not caring where he would end up. Ryuuken worried about the young man who was sitting next to him and promising to himself to stay with Ichigo if he would let him.

An hour later, they were pulling up the driveway of Ichigo's childhood home, an older lady coming over to greet them as Ryuuken turned off the car. Ichigo stepped out and gazed up, feeling memories well up through his mind. Ryuuken greeted the woman, smiling as he took the house keys from her. Ichigo hummed and nodded to the woman when she expressed her sympathy and left soon after.

"Here, Ichigo. Go head of me, open the door and turn on some lights so we can see. I'll start bringing things in," Ryuuken suggested, handing over the keys. He gladly took the keys with a grateful smile, staring at the front door before cautiously making his way up to it. He was grateful that Ryuuken was giving him time to walk into his old home, time to just get used to the thought that his family would never come through that very doorway, even as he unlocked it and stepped inside. His brows came together at the sight of the curtains drawn tight against the sun, and he reached out to flip the hall lights on.

With the flood of light, he blinked at the amount of dust that covered his fingers and everything within his line of sight.

"What happened here, you guys?" he asked the silent house, walking towards the living room with careful steps. He sneezed several times before he yanked open the curtains and blinds, dust rising off of both of them. He ignored it in favor of opening the windows to let in fresh air, getting rid of the stale air. Ryuuken walked in with a box in his arms and gazed around with wide eyes. "What could have happened to drive them out of this house?" Ichigo asked, his voice pained and sad.

"I have no idea, Ichigo-chan. Absolutely no idea," Ryuuken said, voice quiet and worry tinting every word.


	3. Like a Bullet 2

Title: Like a Bullet

Fandom: Bleach

Chapter: 2

Pairings: To Be Announced

Word Count: 2,986

Edited by: Cutsycat

AN: Have you ever had one of those "Wow! Holy Fuck!" moments? Yeah…I'm having one of those moments right now. For those who are a part of the Y!Gallery community, you know what has been going on and how slow the site has been for the past while. But suddenly it's like super speed when you load a page on it. O.o Holy…

Yeah, just had to say that. Enjoy this story.

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"I have a feeling that we're going to be doing a lot of cleaning. How about you call the store to tell them that we're here and what we've seen, okay?" Ryuuken suggested, Ichigo nodding and going to do so. Once he had called the shop, finding that Hanatoru had already headed home, he sighed and shoved a bit of reddish hair back. Ichigo slid his eyes over the house that was covered in dust with a tight look on his face.

"Ryuuken, can you call Hanatoru-kun and see if he could get my cleaning supplies from my shared apartment and bring them here? Why waste too much money on new supplies when we have good ones still," he said, Ryuuken nodding his head, already pulling out his phone with a smirk. Getting Hanatoru on the line, he had his lover gather cleaning clothing for Ichigo and himself along with the supplies, along with everyday outfits for himself.

Ichigo moved around the rooms, opening curtains and windows to air out the house before the sound of his footsteps heading up the stairs reached Ryuuken's ears.

Flipping his phone closed, Ryuuken listened as the sounds of Ichigo walking around upstairs suddenly stopped. Waiting for a moment to see if they would start again, he bounded up the stairs, soon finding himself standing in a room that held nothing but a bare bed, a table, lamp, a desk and a chair that went with the desk.

It was Ichigo's childhood bedroom, the younger male standing by the bed and stroking a stuffed lion like creature, tears evident in his eyes.

"Ichigo-chan?" Ryuuken asked, unsurprised at the light sniff as Ichigo looked up.

"I thought that Isshin had thrown him away after I was kicked out. By the time I was able to get back to get the rest of my stuff, he was gone," Ichigo sighed lowly, eyes blinking several times. "Mom gave me Kon, as I'm sure you remember."

"Is it really Kon? I'm shocked that it is still in such good condition," Ryuuken hummed, moving to stand next to his godson and idly playing with the tuff of fur on top of its head. "It has been so long since I have seen it," he teased, watching Ichigo happily hug the stuffed animal close with a small smile on his lips.

"Will Hanatoru-kun be here soon?" he asked, tone curious. Ryuuken nodded, leading the way to the other rooms that looked much like they had before Ichigo had left. Opening the curtains in the girls' room, they looked around for a few moments before Ichigo stalked over to the closet. Jerking the door open, they both stared at the empty closet that had a splash of bloody red paint, a macabre sight against the stark white of the wall.

"That's not blood is it?" Ichigo breathed out, his eyes wide and body trembling. He really hoped that it was paint like it looked, but couldn't be sure since it was still dripping.

"No, it's too bright. It's red paint, fresh by the looks of it. Come, let's continue to look around. I have a feeling that they left in a hurry if only their clothes are gone, but everything else is here," Ryuuken drawled, drawing Ichigo away from the closet, heading into Isshin's room after peeking into the bathroom, finding the bedroom the same as before. The only odd thing was the empty drawer that sat on the floor, looking as if it had been set there and left. In the closet, they found another splash of paint on the wall, looking marginally fresher then the splash in the girls' closet. "I think we need to speak with the police about what happened, and we should really see if we can't find any of their journals. Something tells me that something was going on and they'll tell us what."

"Yeah. I know dad kept a daily journal and the twins had started about when I left," Ichigo breathed, Ryuuken nodding as they headed down the stairs. "I need to get pictures of the paint splashes, see if it's important," he muttered, eyes dark as they walked into the kitchen.

The two took the time to shift through the cupboards, finding tea and a well stocked pantry. The freezer was also full, but the main refrigerator was empty outside of a box of cereal, a box of baking soda and a small thing of baking powder. Finding the kettle, Ichigo set about making tea for them, finding the movements soothing to his suddenly frazzled nerves. Serving it, he sat with Ryuuken at the table, waiting for Hanatoru to arrive, Ichigo getting the number to the police to call once his friend was there and they had time.

The sound of a car pulling up drew the two out of their thoughts, Ichigo moving to open the door with a smile. Hanatoru smiled in return as he stepped out of his car and opened the trunk to pull out a too large duffle bag.

"Ishida-kun packed you a bag and I packed Ryuuken-san one, along with our vacuum," he chirped, as he walked up to the door, making Ichigo blink.

"Why in the world did you pack your vacuum?" Ichigo asked, laughter escaping him. Hanatoru just smirked and raised an eyebrow at his friend.

"Because it's powerful, lightweight and has a bin instead of a bag," Hanatoru stated before walking in, Ryuuken slipping past with a smile dancing on his lips. "I also brought you cold food. I figured you wouldn't have a lot."

"Thank, Hanatoru-kun. Can you put the bags in the living room?" Ichigo asked, moving to help Ryuuken unload the car. Between the three of them, they had the car unloaded, the food put away and the cleaning supplies, including rags that took up a good portion of the table, set out before them. Once Hanatoru had promised to call his lover, he set off for their own home as Ichigo and Ryuuken decided on what rooms to do first.

"So, my bedroom, kitchen and the bathroom first. Then we'll do the downstairs and work our way up," Ichigo finally said, Ryuuken giving a curt nod. The two had changed into jeans and t-shirts, the cross dresser having braided his hair before placing it into a tight bun.

"I'll start on the bathroom if you do the kitchen. When do we want to do the bedroom?" Ryuuken suggested, gathering gloves and the bathroom cleaning supplies.

"Let's do it after dinner," Ichigo hummed, gathering his own supplies and looking around the kitchen, eyes trailing over everything as he tried to figure out what to do first; Ryuuken heading up the stairs. Finally tucking his ear buds in, he started cleaning the stove, letting his mind wander free of everything he had learned and seen in the last hour and a half. He would get to worry about it all later, once he was done with cleaning the house.

So absorbed in cleaning, having gone from working on the stove to working on the counters and cabinets, he missed the knocking on the front door.

Looking to his partner, Byakuya Kukichi reached forward after their knocks went unanswered and opened the front door, black hair falling into one eye as they stepped inside. Renji followed after, frowning when his pony tail brushed the top of the door jamb, making the red locks bounce.

"Are ya sure they're here?" Renji asked, tattooed eyebrows drawing together. The large red head was a far cry from what you would expect from a high lieutenant in the Homicide Specialty Department, with bright red locks and tattoos that covered most of his body. But he was, and at the moment, he was worried about his captain as they moved further into the house. Byakuya gave the bigger male a glare before leading him into the kitchen with cautious steps, pulling his weapon from its holster and holding it at his side.

Stepping into the kitchen, they were greeted to the sight of a lean male with a braided bun pulling out pans and cooking bowls from a cabinet. Ichigo turned around, catching sight of them and the screech of "Ryuuken" was far from what they had expected as Byakuya shoved his gun back into its holster. The running footsteps and Ryuuken Ishida appearing after the screech was, though Byakuya was still surprised that the man was there.

"Who the fuck are you?" Ichigo finally snapped, putting the bowl in his hands aside as his companion held the bottle of cleaner at the ready, waiting to see what would happen.

"I am Byakuya Kukichi and I'm the captain of the Homicide Specialty Unit. You are?" Byakuya asked, getting a dry look before Ichigo looked to Renji.

"I'm Renji Abari, lieutenant of the Homicide Specialty Unit," Renji stated, figuring that the fire colored male wouldn't answer until he did.

"Ichigo Kurosaki. Are you the two investigating my families' death?" he asked in curiosity as he pulled off his gloves.

"Yeah," Renji said, eyeing the smirking Ichigo.

"Good, I was going to call you guys," Ichigo drawled. "Ryuuken and I were hoping to get details of their deaths, especially since it looks as if they left in a rush."

Settling down around the table, tea and fresh coffee made, Ichigo gave the two detectives a long look as Ryuuken mostly ignored them, preferring to make sure that Ichigo was able to get what information he needed.

"So, do you want to tell me the details? Not to mention can you tell me when I can claim my families' bodies?" Ichigo finally asked after a few minutes of silence, sipping his tea and wishing for something stronger then just tea at that moment.

"There's not a whole lot to tell. They were all strangled in the hotel room they were holed up in; it looked as if there had been a fight, but their bodies didn't show any signs of a fight," Renji stated as he opened a notebook to check his notes before looking up. Ichigo was rubbing his nose as he tried to take slow deep breaths to calm himself down from the sudden stabbing pain in his heart.

"Ryuuken, can you go get the bottle of scotch out of the cabinet in the living room for me?" he asked, looking to the man. Ryuuken nodded his head and stood up, walking into the living room, leaving them alone. The sounds of bottles clinking reaching them, Ichigo once more looked to Byakuya and Renji. "Is there any information as to why they had left the house to hide…where now? A hotel right? From what I've seen, all they took were clothing and cold food, leaving everything else behind. And the amount of dust tells me it was along while ago when they left, at least two months."

Renji and Byakuya shared a speaking look as Ryuuken came back in with a bottle and a crystal glass. He moved to the freezer, dropping two cubes of ice into the glass and pour some of the dark liquid.

"It seems as if they left the main house nearly two months ago, your father only coming in to run the clinic. We learned this when we spoke with your neighbors and with the front area receptionist, one Orihime Ioune," Byakuya told him, raising an eyebrow when Ichigo stiffened before quickly downing his drink.

"I see," Ichigo said, eyes narrowing in thought. "I didn't know that she was working here."

"From what I was able to gather, it had only been in the last few months that she had been," Byakuya replied, sipping his coffee. He was surprised to find it well made, delicious and hardly bitter to the taste buds.

"Why would you know? From what Orihime-san said, you were kicked out around age 17, nearly three years ago. Why that happened, she didn't really say outside of some sort of unnaturalness on your part," Renji drawled. Ichigo snorted and stood up, grabbing the scotch bottle and pouring a fresh cup.

"Yeah, she would say that. I was kicked out because my dad found out that I'm gay and a cross dresser. Let's just say my coming out wasn't planned and happened at the worst possible time," Ichigo finally said, leaning against the counter, slowly sipping his drink. "Orihime was crushing on me hard, so anything that impinged on her fantasy of being Mrs. Kurosaki is unnatural."

"And how would you know if someone was or wasn't working here? There was no indication that you would be able to find out about it," Byakuya asked, tucking away the new information.

"My sisters used to come and visit at the shop, Kukichi-san. They would tell me what was going on, even if I didn't want to hear about it," Ichigo snorted, sipping his scotch as she raised an eyebrow at them. "And if you're wondering what shop, it's Lolita's Dream, on the other side of town."

"That one place that caters to various and usually odd, tastes right?" Renji asked, getting a nod. "I've been there before, but I've never seen you in there."

"Well, as owner, I'm mostly putting in orders, checking stock, tagging and even paying the bills," Ichigo said, sounding almost sickly sweet. Ryuuken snickered into his teacup, eyes sparkling brightly as he watched his godson smack Renji's ego down a few notches. Renji scowled but didn't say anything after Byakuya sent him a sharp look.

"Is there anything else that you want to ask?" Byakuya asked after writing something down in a notebook.

"Was there anything about the scene that had seemed off beyond the way it looked as if there was a fight with no physical injuries?" Ichigo asked, shifting on his feet, a worried look crossing his face.

"Perhaps. Why do you ask?" the black haired man asked, eyes narrowing slightly at Ichigo.

"Got a camera? You will probably want it," Ryuuken asked, standing up once more. Renji walked out to their vehicle after sharing a look with Byakuya, grabbing their camera before they followed Ichigo and Ryuuken up the stairs and to the twins' room. Ichigo opened the twins closet door, the sight of red splashes on the back wall, dried by then, surprising them all with how it looked. Renji quickly snapped several pictures from various angles before standing up and looking towards Byakuya.

"We found it just like this, if a bit wet, so don't go thinking we had anything to do with this. But from what I can tell, there's something more then what you're telling me," Ichigo stated, eyes half lidded as he showed Byakuya and Renji his fathers closet, letting them look around.

"You found the house pretty much as it is now, correct?" Byakuya asked, getting nods from Ryuuken and Ichigo.

"Yeah, but everything was shut up. Windows were locked and covered by the curtains, I'm guessing to block out the light or something else. Also, dust covered everything, so that tells me that they were gone for the two months, or that a window had been opened a few times during the odd wind storms that had blown sand and dust around," Ichigo drawled as he led the way back downstairs after Renji had taken pictures of the second closet.

"You're correct, Kurosaki-san. What I am about to tell you can not be shared with anyone, including the press. We are trying to keep as many of these details out of any press stories during the investigation," Byakuya warned as they once more sat the kitchen table.

"Of course," Ryuuken drawled, Ichigo resting his head on his hands, eyes dark with his thoughts.

"There were some splashes much like the ones upstairs, but they weren't red. Instead they were a dark green with a few bits of dark purple. It's very odd how you have splashes that look much like the ones there," Renji said, watching Ichigo dry wash his face and take a deep breath.

"Kurosaki-san, if you find anything new or find something you think is important, please contact me, at any time," Byakuya said, cutting the disscussion off for the moment. Ichigo looked about ready to break down, no doubt once more. Pulling out a business card, he slid it over the table to Ichigo who picked it up with a shaking hand.

"Thank you, Kukichi-san," Ichigo sighed, Ryuuken standing up as his godson once more rubbed at his face his hands.

"Let me show you out," Ryuuken offered, leading the two men out of the kitchen. Opening the front door, the three men promised to call should anything new come up. Once Renji and Byakuya were in their car, Ryuuken gathered Ichigo in his arms, holding him close as he cried, the new details of Ichigo's family adding to their grief and pain of losing them in such a horrific way.

Renji gazed up at the house Byakuya accessed their data base to input the new information. His voice broke the silence that had settled around them.

"Do you think that Ryuuken Ishida guy suspects?" he asked, Byakuya looking up from his screen to gaze at the house they were leaving. Through one window, they could see said man vacuuming the couch before disappearing into the kitchen before again reappearing, a nearly sleeping Ichigo in his arms.

"We're going to have to watch them, especially Ishida-san, but Kurosaki-san might be in danger. Call everyone together, we'll have a meeting in three hours," Byakuya finally said as Ryuuken laid a blanket over Ichigo.

"Yes, sir," Renji said, pulling out his phone and dialing a well memorized number as he started the car. "Yeah, Kira, listen. Make the calls to everyone. We have a new lead on this case," he said as he pulled out of the driveway. "We meet in three."


	4. Like a Bullet 3

Title: Like a Bullet

Fandom: Bleach

Chapter: 3

Pairings: To be announced

Word Count: 2,771

AN: And I'm sure you've noticed that I didn't post this last week. I wasn't able to due to vacation but I'm back now! Enjoy. :D

* * *

Standing before the conference room that made up a good chunk of one of the floors that the Homicide Specialty Unit used, Byakuya looked over them as he plugged in his laptop. "Where is Matsamoto?" he asked, Renji pulling a screen down behind him.

"Stuck in traffic. Apparently her date last night took her to the edge of town." The man who had spoken was named Toshiro Hitsugaya and was putting down his own laptop onto the conference table and opening it up, gazing at it with icy blue eyes as matching hair fell into his eyes from soft spikes. "She should be here soon, which is more than we should expect with her," he continued, getting a snort. Icy blue eyes shifted to a large man who wore an eye patch and his hair up in spikes, getting a toothy grin from the man.

"Who did she pick up this time?" Kenpachi Zakari asked, voice a rolling growl. Hitsugaya waved a hand in a rather "I don't know and I don't care" move.

"Come now you guys, no need to snipe about one of our own." A sweet looking man with silver hair hummed, eyes glittering brightly as he sat down next to another man. He was a rather broad shouldered male with light brown hair and dancing brown eyes, and was idly playing with his friends' hair.

"Jyuushiro-kun is right. Come now, why are we always picking at Rangiku-chan?" Shunsui Kyoraku asked teasingly, Ukitake Jyuushiro snickering lowly under his breath.

"Because she picks at us?" Izuru Kira responded. Soft blond hair fell over one eye, styled into place as blue eyes danced with his amusement, making fresh coffee as Matsamoto walked in.

"Oh shove it, Kira-chan," the busty red head chirped, everyone turning towards her with a smirk playing on their lips. "At least I get laid whenever I can," she said, light blue eyes twinkling happily.

"You get laid every single night, Matsamoto, usually by a different male," Renji drawled, making a cup of coffee for himself.

"True," Rangiku drawled as she sat down beside Jyuushiro, Shunsui on his other side. Across from them sat Hitsugaya, Kira and Renji sitting down next to Kira and shuffling through the case files.

"Since we're all here, we are to talk about the Kurosaki case, our newest one. The Kurosaki son, Ichigo, has gone back to the family house," Byakuya finally said, the screen filling with a picture of the male, plus a few bits of information. "He was able to fill in just why he left the household when he was about 17 years of age."

"Why did he?" Kira asked, writing down the information about him. They had been curious about Ichigo since the first day they had gotten the case, nearly a week ago, and why he had left. They hadn't found Ichigo's contact information until the day before, having needed to get warrants to find any of it, especially since it was discovered that most of his information was hidden.

"Apparently his father didn't like the fact that he was a cross dresser and gay when it came out," Renji stated. "He then opened a store called Lolita's Dream with the help of one Uryuu Ishida and his father, Ryuuken Ishida. He employs three people total, all of them listed by their first names only on their web site. Hanatoru Yamada is their manager, Shuuhei Hisagi works full time around his school schedule and Tessai Tsukabishi works for them full time. Or so the website says," he continued, a delicately done website opening. On the screen, glamour shots of the six people named were up.

"So, does he know anything?" Hitsugaya asked.

"No, but he did find paint splashed in his sisters and fathers closet. It reminds me of the paint splashes we found at the crime scene," Byakuya stated, changing the pictures once more, this time of the splashes. Both of them looked much the same, as if the paint had been put into a balloon before being thrown at the wall, letting it drip down the wall.

"They almost looks like blood," Jyuushiro said, putting his pencil down and rubbing at his lips with wide eyes. "The paint in the closet at the very least. It is macabre," he said, shuddering in distaste.

"It's lighter in person. Kurosaki-san and Ishida-san apparently found them when they arrived at the house earlier today. Nothing was taken except clothing by what they could tell and the refrigerator was emptied," Byakuya said, everyone writing down the information. "The house was covered in dust, validating Ioune-san's statement that they only came around during clinic hours and emergencies."

"So they just abandoned their home, as we thought. Have the autopsies been done?" Kenpachi asked, typing on what looked to be a Blackberry. They all knew that the man hated technology, but rather liked his Blackberry, much to their amusement.

"They have, finally. Apparently there is sub dermal bruising that they found, a lot of it on the actual muscle of each of their bodies. There were also a lot of fibers and other bits on their bodies," Shunsui said, flipping open the three files before him. "Everything found has been sent to our techs, but it'll take a bit to get anything back to just how much had been found."

"There's also something slimy like that had been found on their necks," Jyuushiro said, taking the laptop from Renji and opening the pictures of the slime like substance on the necks of their victims. "Blood has been drawn; skin, organ and other tissue samples have been gathered too," he said, showing the first round of tox screens.

"They weren't drunk and they weren't drugged," Rangiku mused as she gazed at one of the files. "Were any of them raped?"

"Not that they could tell, but they highly doubt it," Shunsui drawled, getting grateful looks all around. "It almost looks as if they were tossed around and then strangled. The bruising never had a chance to come up, even after their deaths. They were dead for at least three hours before they were found."

"Alright, so we know that they either weren't able to fight, or if they did, weren't able to do so very wel,. They were strangled and they had abandoned their home for whatever reason. I have a feeling that them abandoning their home is connected to their deaths," Byakuya stated, looking over Isshin's file, eyes taking in every detail of what their ME had found. "We have discovered a little more about their lives, which is good. I think we will need to speak more with Kurosaki-san, find out what his sisters discussed with him whey they stopped by to see him."

"Jyuushiro and I can do that over a series of interviews so that we don't miss anything. No need to stress out any more then necessary," Shunsui drawled, closing his notebook and tucking it away in the pocket of his semi-loose black jeans. "If anything, anyone will be able to get information out of him. Probably not Kenpachi here though, especially since Kurosaki-san is so pretty."

"Fine. I gave him my number just in case he finds something more or thinks about something important," Byakuya told the group, closing the file before him. "I'm glad that we caught this case instead of any others. There is a decidedly unnatural element to this and we all know other Units hate catching our cases."

"You're worried about something, aren't ya?" Kenpachi asked, eye sharp and gazing at Byakuya who nodded his head.

"Yes, I am. I fear that due to his family connection, he and friends will be targeted next. I want someone to call the Guardians and put a watch on all of them as soon as possible. Find out what you can about them and report back to me. I will look for information about Kurosaki-san myself since I already have an in with his ex-friends. Tread carefully while you search. Whoever orchestrated these murders know how to get around our techniques so we must be careful," he warned, getting agreements and nods.

"I'll call Aizen-san and give him the heads up," Kira said, standing up and nodding to everyone, Kenpachi following after him. The rest left quickly, leaving Byakuya and Shunsui in the meeting room, gazing at each other with somber expressions.

"Do you think it's him?" Shunsui finally asked as a grim look settled on his face.

"It's his MO. His style," Byakuya said, his friend cursing fluently as he left the meeting room. Byakuya felt like joining him.

Picking up the phone, Ikkaku gazed around the room as he grunted out "Hello?" He wasn't expecting to hear Kira's voice cursing on the other side of the line. "Nice greeting there, Kira-kun. What can I do for ya?"

"Ikkaku-san, is Aizen-san there? We have a job for you and yours," Kira finally said after cursing someone out. "It has Byakuya real antsy, so we need to set up this job fast."

"Yeah, he's in. Let me transfer ya," Ikkaku said, eyebrows drawing together as he did so. Aizen looked up from his newest file on the last case and gazed at the phone, a chill running down his spine. Brown eyes solemn, he reaching out and picked up the headset from its cradle, one long finger pressing the accept button.

"Aizen, Sosuke, how can I help you?" he asked, sitting back in his chair with a squeak; once more the chill tripped up and down his spine.

"Aizen-san, this is Kira, Izuru, of the Homicide Specialty Unit. We have a new job for the Guardians," Kira drawled over the line, sitting forward in his own chair, flipping through the file before him as he held the phone between his shoulder and ear.

"What are the details?" Aizen asked, already knowing that they would take the case, feeling that it would end up being big. And potentially dangerous if not handled carefully.

"I've faxed over the papers. Whoever is hanging around by the fax machine should be bringing it to your office now," Kira replied. Aizen looked up as a man with dark purple hair cut straight along the edges and a smug smirk on his lips walked in, carrying a thick pile of papers.

"My, that is a lot of information," Aizen stated, opening his laptop as his worker sat the papers down on his desk. "Thank you, Yumichika-san," he said, bowing his head to Yumichika Asasegawa, enjoying the pretty blush that spread over pale, high cheeks and a pert nose. No matter how often he got to see it, Aizen had to enjoy it and the fact that very few could make the beauty obsessed male blush.

"If you're done making Yumichika-san blush, I can give you the run down of the case," Kira drawled, getting a bit of laughter as Yumichika smiled and flounced out of Aizen's office, closing the door behind him. "Got your document open, Aizen-san? Or were you watching Yumichika-san's ass again?"

"I have it open," Aizen grumped teasingly, more then used to Kira's teasing after working with the Unit for so long. Putting the phone onto speaker phone, he pulled his laptop closer. "Tell me what you know."

"The victims were three out of the four Kurosakis; Isshin, the father, and the two sisters, Yuzu and Karin. They were all killed in a small hotel apartment that they had rented after abandoning their home nearly 3 months ago. The 'why' as to why they did that is still unknown at this time," Kira stated, gazing at the four pictures before him.

"What of the fourth?" Aizen asked, fingers flying over his keyboard. He would do his own research on the people that had been found in the course of the case, wanting to know them up, down, left, right and inside out.

"One Ichigo Kurosaki, one owner of Lolita's Dream in the downtown area is still alive," Kira stated, Aizen humming as he typed up that information. "He hasn't lived with his father or younger sisters for the last four years due to an argument over his personal choice of life style. Apparently, Ichigo-san is a well known cross dresser and gay from what he told Byakuya-san when they talked. His father wasn't thrilled when he found out and kicked him out of the home."

"I see. So, he left, opened the shop and had no real contact with his family since then," Aizen drawled.

"That's correct. Now, as for the victims, they had no visible bruising, but we found sub dermal bruising. A bit of slime was found on their necks, but we're still waiting on the reports for that, especially since there was so much trace evidence again. I'm not going to hold my breath on that one though," Kira sighed, Aizen pausing.

"Why is that?" he asked.

"For the simple fact that the last time we found this stuff, it came up as saliva with no markers for DNA. That is, the last 20 cases," was the blunt reply. "They were strangled, Aizen-san, like all the others. There's a reason as to why Byakuya is so damn antsy about this one. Aizen-san, Ichigo-san probably needs to be protected, especially since his family was targeted by him. There is always the chance that they had been stalked and who it is will come back if they know about Ichigo-san and the fact that he came back to claim his families' estate," Kira said.

"I take it we need to guard this Ichigo Kurosaki?" Aizen asked, sitting back.

"We need you to also watch over his employees of Lolita's Dream," Kira said. After giving the names to the head of the Guardians, the two finished their conversation and hung up, Aizen doing a bit of research. He was surprised at how much information there was about Ichigo and his friends. Gathering his things, he walked out of the office and smiled at his crew, waving his hand as he headed towards the conference room.

Placing his laptop down on the table, Aizen was hardly surprised to find that Soi-Fon was the first person to walk into the conference room. She was a petite woman who looked rather pissed off all the time, her black eyes flashing as her bound hair swayed behind her, rings attached to the bound braids. She often used her jet black hair to attack and defend, but still she was sweet once you got past her prickly surface.

Kensai Muguruma, Gin Ichimaru, Szayel Aporro Grantz and Coyote Starrk walked in next. Out of the four, Gin was the shortest, but he was also one of the stronger Guardians. Silver-lavender colored hair fell into amber eyes that seemed to never open, drawing attention away from the seemingly bony body. The opposite of Gin was Starrk, who stood a good eight inches above the smaller man, with brown hair falling around brown eyes. Starrk was scratching at his goatee and looking sleepy as Szayel sneered at his lazy partner.

Aizen believed that Szayel was the oddest of his employees with his bright pink hair and equally pink eyes. His fingers were also rather long, perfect as his part of the group as their scientist and one of their main profilers. He also had an ego that drove his silver haired partner, Kensai, up a wall. Kensai was a large man with an easy smirk on his face, and was another opposite of his partner. Where as Szayel was all about the science and long hair, the man next to him kept his hair short, body strong and his instincts sharp.

It wasn't long after the five had taken their seats that Yumichika swept in with his own overly muscled partner, Ikkaku Madarame. The man was one of the top fighters of the Guardians, along with Gin and Kensai, but made everyone wonder just why he shaved his head.

The last to arrive was Soi-Fon's partner, Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez, a feral looking man. He was another who had oddly colored hair; the locks a vibrant blue that matched his eyes that fairly glowed as he looked around the room.

"Now, that everyone is here we have a new case and I fear it's going to be dangerous, especially since we have six people to protect instead of just one. And they all may be targeted because of one little cross dresser. We're gonna have to step lightly with this case," Aizen said, eyeing his group and seeing his people look interested in the new case already.


	5. Like a Bullet 4

Title: Like a Bullet

Fandom: Bleach

Chapter: 4

Pairings: Ryuuken/Hanatoru, Others to be announced

Word Count: 2,840

AN: Tired! Almost forgot to post this. Sorry.

* * *

The next day, after they had cleaned out the living room, bathroom, kitchen and one bedroom, Ichigo and Ryuuken had enjoyed a short rest before starting to shift through his families' things. The late afternoon found Ichigo walking into the police station to start the needed paperwork for the release of Isshin, Yuzu and Karin's bodies to his custody. He was also wanting to speak with Byakuya about a possible lead in their murders.

His heels clicked on the tile floor as his ankle length skirt swirled around his legs, teasing anyone looking with barely there glimpses of his legs. He had decided that a simple dark green dress would do for the meeting, his hair falling down his back from a high pony tail. He barely noticed the wide eyed look he was getting from the young police officer who was manning the front desk.

"Can you please tell Kukichi-san that Ichigo Kurosaki is here to speak with him?" he asked, signing in as the officer nodded and did so.

As Ichigo took a seat, the man kept stealing glances at Ichigo as he played with his phone. It wasn't long before Byakuya was strolling out of an elevator and bowing slightly to him. Ichigo stood and bowed in return.

"Kukichi-san, a pleasure," he greeted, the black haired man placing a hand on the younger males back.

"Come, I will show you where you can fill out the paperwork. I also wish to introduce you to a few people and explain some fears my people and I have for you," Byakuya explained, getting a nod as they stepped onto an elevator with a blond whose smile showed quite a few of his teeth.

"Shinji-kun, I wasn't expecting to see you here," Ichigo said in greeting, blinking up at the man next to him.

"Ah, you know me, Ichi-chan. I pop up all over the place. As it is, it seems that we're going to the same place for whatever reason," Shinji drawled, pulling Ichigo into a tight hug, the young man purring his contentment and returning the hug.

"You two know each other?" Byakuya asked, watching Shinji nuzzle into the red ponytail as Ichigo turned dancing eyes towards him.

"Yeah, we've gone out on a few dates before. He also often comes into the store," Ichigo explained, smiling sweetly, quite happy to be held close by a dear friend after such tragedy. Shinji was all too happy to indulge the sweet Ichigo, letting him hug him close. He knew that Shinji would jump at another date, but they both enjoyed the easy friendship that they had for the moment. "I thought you were on vacation in Tokyo," he said to Shinji who just smiled broadly.

"I was, but I got an interesting phone call from Aizen-san about a new case that we were asked to work on. Why didn't ya call me when ya got the news?" Shinji asked, pouting as his eyes glittered at the frown that formed on Ichigos lips.

"I didn't want to bother you and I haven't really had the time to do much beyond clean rooms," Ichigo huffed. "Everyone at the shop is covering my shifts on top of that. As it is, after this, I have an appointment with the life insurance agent about my families' insurance policies and then I have to go to the funeral home… God, Shinji, this sucks," he sighed, closing his eyes and leaning his head against his friends' strong chest. Shinji just patted his hair soothingly.

"Want me to come with you?" Shinji asked, Ichigo nodding as the elevator dinged and opened to a hallway with one door. Byakuya lead the way to the door, his two companions following after him, Shinji holding Ichigo close.

"This is where my unit works," Byakuya said, opening the door way and stepping inside, Shinji smiling as they stepped in. "Or at least the bull pen." There was a large group all standing around one desk, falling quiet as they stared at the last living Kurosaki, who was looking stressed and drawn. Shinji nodded his head to his co-workers and the detectives that he worked with on occasion.

"Shinji-san, I wondered when you would arrive," Aizen greeted, breaking off from the group. Looking down at Ichigo who was attached to his friend and co-worker, he bowed lightly and held his hand out to him. "And you are?" he asked as Ichigo took his hand.

"Ichigo Kurosaki," was the answer, smiling at the firm hand shake. Aizen took the chance to roll the feelings that were coming from Ichigo through what he called his mental filter. Fresh hurt, pain and bewilderment were the prominent feelings. Older hurts long healed and pain was also there, but there was a lot of happiness, contentment with his life that was shining brightly. There was also a lot of power, nothing like what he and his had, but something that came from being completely sure as to who he was.

Aizen wondered if he could taste it if he licked a bit of Ichigo's skin.

Looking to Shinji, the two shared a knowing look. It seemed as if the young cross dresser had a very magnetic personality in more than one way.

"It's a pleasure to meet you. Shinji-kun constantly talks about you and we all wondered just who you were," Aizen greeted, getting a smile as Ichigo shot Shinji a promising look.

"All good I hope," Ichigo drawled, getting Aizen to laugh and nod his head. "I've heard about you too. You're Shinji's partner correct?"

"That is correct. Let me introduce you to the rest of my employees. Szayel and Gin are my main science people, their partners are Starrk and Kensai, respectively," Aizen said. Szayel eyed Ichigo with some curiosity while his partner opened one eye to watch as the four walked over to the group. The other two just waved at them in greeting. "Soi-Fon is my head martial arts expert along with her partner, Grimmjow, who is a brawling expert along with researcher." As he spoke, Aizen pointed out those who he was speaking about. Soi-Fon gave him a distasteful look while Grimmjow leered at him.

Ichigo made a note not to be caught alone with either of them unless he wanted to go to jail for homicide.

"And then we have Yumichika and his partner, Ikkaku, my two main techs and weapons experts," Aizen hummed, nodding to the last two. Ikkaku waved as he drank from a can, Yumichika smiling gently at him. Ichigo had a feeling that there was more to Yumichika that hid behind the smile.

"It's nice to meet you all," Ichigo said, eyeing the others that hadn't been introduced, before he turned to Byakuya. And like Aizen, Byakuya pointed to those he was introducing.

"My people. You know Renji of course. There is also Kira, Shunsui, Jyuushiro, Hitsugaya, Rangiku and Kenpachi. We asked Aizen and his people here for a very important reason," Byakuya stated, taking a very small pile of papers from Kira. "But first, please fill and sign out these so we don't have to worry about them," he said, getting Ichigo to sit at one of the desks.

Even as he gave them curious looks, he easily filled out the papers; he silently thanked who ever filled out most of the information for him. Only calling the funeral home to get the address for where they wanted the bodies to be delivered, he was soon done and sat back as he handed over the papers.

"Alright, now tell my why you felt you had to call in a bodyguard company that's well known to have abilities that most people don't have," Ichigo finally said, frowning at everyone as they looked at him with wide eyes. "What? I can do research and I did some on the Unit. I know that you guys work on cases that are considered off, but that's it. As for the Guardians, even their website admits to varied degrees of empathetics and other abilities," he said, giving them a slightly sullen look, eyebrows drawing together.

Shinji had to chuckle at the bluntness that he remembered being on the wrong side of one to many times.

"Well, I always did say you were as curious as a damn cat and smart as one too," Shinji drawled, getting a shy smile from Ichigo. "Anyway, Byakuya-san has a feeling, and so far the evidence points to it. That feeling was that your family was stalked and killed by a very dangerous… Well they're not a gang. But they're not assassins despite them taking the occasional kill job. They're called Bounts and if they find out about you they may come back. We're here to protect you and your friends, at least until we know you're safe."

"I've heard about them, or at least their victims and cruelties that make it into the news. They're very good at what they do for such evil," Ichigo said slowly, a frown tugging at his lips. "How do you know it was them though?" he asked, looking to the others, eyes landing on Byakuya who sat down in a chair next to him.

"You know the basic details of your family's murder. They were strangled after being tossed around, the bruising only being sub dermal," he started. Ichigo nodded, arms coming to lay around his waist as he looked upset. Shinji moved to stand next to him and placed his hand on one shoulder. "A detail that never makes it to the press are the splashes of paint. At every single scene, there are paint splashes, always in the closet if there is any, otherwise on the wall across from a window. They range in size depending on the job."

"But… why my family? I don't think that my father drew any negative attention and I don't draw attention to them since he kicked me out," Ichigo said, looking up at Shinji before looking to the others once more, eyes trailing over them one by one.

"We're not to sure as to why they targeted your family, actually," Shunsui finally admitted. "So far, from what we've found out, your sisters lived a pretty normal life: school, soccer with Karin, cooking club with Yuzu and from what we were told by Byakuya-san, the occasional visit to you. Isshin Kurosaki kept normal clinic hours along with on call hours for large emergencies," he continued, watching Ichigo frown.

"They kept journals, diaries for Yuzu. If I can find them, perhaps they can help give you a peek into their world, their minds, at the time," Ichigo mused, the group exchanging looks. "That is, if they were writing about what was going on lately. I can also give you some dates from where I felt stalked, as doubtful as it sounds."

"You were stalked?!" Shinji yelped, Ichigo reaching up to smack him on the shoulder with a scowl.

"I don't know. Maybe. The thing is, I'm a store owner, gay, a cross dresser and I openly support gay rights. And I've sued those who try to scare me by either letters or by stalking me. But they're usually caught rather quickly," Ichigo snorted, wincing at the looks he was getting. "They plead out. As for the letters, I hand those over without opening to a Detective Nemu who works at the other precinct, near the shop. She should have all of that info if you need it."

"We'll get it later, Ichigo-kun," Kira promised, writing that down and looking to Aizen who was looking very unhappy.

"About this stalker, what happened to them?" Jyuushiro asked, offering Ichigo a can of soda, getting a sweet smile as he accepted it.

"I couldn't find anyone. It was mostly the feeling of being watched and followed," he said, opening the can and taking a sip, a frown tugging at his lips. "It was like all they wanted to do _was_ watch me. Then the feeling would disappear very quickly, coming and going every few days, maybe a couple of weeks apart."

"So nothing really happened? No letters, sightings or calls?" Jyuushiro asked, Ichigo shaking his head in response. "Sounds as if it may be connected but it also may not. For now, we'll figure out who will watch over whom and who will work with whom. If we have questions, either Shunsui and I shall come to you or," he continued, looking to Byakuya quickly before continuing, "Byakuya-san and Renji-san will speak with you."

"Ikkaku-san, Kensai-san, Shinji-san, Starrk-san and Yumichika-san will guard you and your friends, one person per guard. Grimmjow-san, Szayel-san, Gin-san, Soi-Fon-san and myself will change out on occasion when someone's specialties are needed or they need to do things away from their charges," Aizen stated, Ichigo nodding as he pulled out his phone. Sliding it open, he started to type on its keyboard.

"I'm sending out a mass text for everyone who works at the store to come over to my father's house after the store closes. That'll give me time to do my errands and for all of you to get your stuff in order," Ichigo stated, Shinji leaning over and watching him type.

"That would be around what time?" Aizen asked as he jotted down a few notes as they waited for the answer.

"Seeing as it's a Wednesday? Seven. They'll be at the house by eight, eight thirty at the latest," Ichigo hummed, sliding his phone closed and sticking it back into a hidden pocket. "So, who is coming with me to watch me during my errands?"

"Since I'm already coming with you, I'll be your guard and since it's me, Grimmjow will be the one I change places with while Kira-san is my connection," Shinji chirped, smiling at his friend who smiled sweetly and nodded to Ichigo who returned it, looking strained. "Come on, bratling, let's go do your errands. I'll even buy dinner for ya," he offered, tugging Ichigo up and out of his seat, wrapping an around the other's waist.

"Make it lunch and I'll make the dinner myself," Ichigo hummed. "That is if we're done with all of this and you have the report for the nice people?" he asked, turning to Byakuya with a curious look.

"Why exactly do you need it?" Kira asked, Byakuya holding out a sealed envelope to Ichigo.

"For the paperwork that I have to do. My father had a 3 million yen policy total for the three of them for funeral costs, land taxes and any other left over bills. This includes accidental deaths, suicide, homicide or any other death out there," Ichigo sighed. "My name used to be on it, but was removed when I was kicked out. He got it after my mothers' death, her death benefits and life insurance having been placed in trust funds for me and my sisters, per her will. I also have to have it for my bank and other people."

"So, now that your sisters and father have died, all of that goes to you right?" Kira asked, Ichigo nodding.

"Yeah. I have an appointment with my families' lawyer and will be getting the exact number and how many taxes will be taken out to pay for it. I found the bills that haven't been paid, so once I can, I'll be paying those off and then… I don't know," he said, holding the envelope close, shrugging. "I suppose I'll use the money to give them a proper funeral and the rest I'll use to finish off my business degree."

"But you already own a business," Shinji teased, getting elbowed by Ichigo.

"The degree will end up helping me in the long run, you jerk. Ishida is doing a business management course minor along with his fashion design major. I could also help with a couple of years of his classes and possibly Shuuhei-kun's too. He's in his last two years of his history degree," Ichigo returned, dragging Shinji off towards the exit, the others all smiling as he dressed his new guard down.

"He seems feisty," Shunsui drawled, getting snickers and agreements from the people around him. "Well, at least we know for sure that it's not him nor was it for money. He's comfortable without the new money, seems kinda uncomfortable with it, and even if he wasn't, I have a feeling he'd still be off any list that we have."

"What did you get off of him, Aizen-san?" Kira asked curiously as the man leant against a desk, eyes half lidded.

"He's hurting and near the end, frazzled about what he has to do. It only came out when he spoke of his errands," Aizen finally said, tossing his empty tea bottle away.

"I thought I would never hear you say frazzled there, Aizen-san," Ikkaku teased, getting a low powered glare from him.

"Let us figure out who is going to watch who and go over the details one more time," Byakuya said, pulling out three files.


	6. Like a Bullet 5

Title: Like a Bullet

Fandom: Bleach

Chapter: 5

Pairings: Ryuuken/Hanatoru

Word Count: 2,697

AN: Another chapter. Just a bit late since I was busy typing up a few other things. Just enjoy you guys. *hugs and kisses*

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Having grabbed a simple lunch from a small restaurant near the insurance office with Shinji, Ichigo was feeling much more balanced and able to sign all of the needed paperwork that was placed before him. The insurance agent was named Hachigen, Hachi for short, and was a rather large man with neat pink hair, eyebrows and mustache. He went over the details of the case that was public, a copy of Isshin's will next to him courtesy of the Kurosaki family lawyer.

Finishing with his the paperwork, Shinji signing as the witness he needed, Ichigo handed it over as Hachi finished with the report that he had been given.

"Kurosaki-san, once again, I am sorry that you lost your family in such a way, but I am glad that you were able to come here so soon," Hachi finally said as he placed the papers into a large folder.

"I have nothing else to do beyond clean and plan their funerals," Ichigo said, rubbing the side of his nose as he sat back.

"From what I've seen, once the will is officially read and signed you will be the one to inherit everything, including the insurance, outside of a couple of bequeathals. Since you were cleared as a suspect, the pay out of 3 million yen will happen in two weeks, enough time to pay off any and all bills that may be left over," Hachi continued.

"My father had started the probate process even before he and the girls died, just in case anything happened. So once I see our lawyer later, it'll take only a few days to get it completed, especially since I was already named co-signer to the girls' trust fund that will be released to me tomorrow. I'm already meeting with the head of our bank to start merging the funds into one account," Ichigo said, Hachi nodding with a smile.

"We can remove the taxes from the check for you before we cut it, if you wish," he offered. Ichigo smiled in thanks and nodded. Once paperwork for the taxes had been filled out, Hachi stood and shook Ichigo's hand with a soft look on his round face. "I will call you when the check comes in. I wish you luck with your other errands, Kurosaki-san," Hachi stated.

Bowing, the two men left the office, heading for their next stop: the will reading. Ichigo was silent as he sucked on his semi-melted shake, preparing himself to see Orihime and Sado, both of whom had been his friends before he had come out gay and a cross dresser.

He knew they had been called for the reading and wasn't looking forward to it.

Pulling into a guest parking spot next to a rather nice car, Shinji turned off his own car and gazed at his companion with a soft look on his face. Reaching out, he stroked a hand over Ichigo's head, getting a small smile from the younger male.

"Come on, brat, let's do this," Shinji said. Getting out, they walked into the small building, a young woman who wore her hair in pigtails and glasses that perched on a little nose showing them into the conference room where not only Orihime and Sado sat, but also Keigo and Tatsuki. The sight of them had Ichigo thinning his lips to hide his surprised displeasure. Shinji eyed the people before them, accessing their threat to Ichigo's physical, mental and emotional wellbeing with a sweep of his eyes.

The large, dark skinned man gazed at them with a dark brown eye, the other hidden by a fringe of chocolate brown hair. The trim goatee made the strong face look good and sort of reminded him of Starrk. What really hit Shinji was the sad and very sorry gleam in his eyes. He was assuming the man was Sado.

Orihime was easy to spot, her bust line as amazing as Ichigo had described, making Shinji wonder if he should just go completely gay with how large her breasts were. Hair a few shades darker then Ichigo's own sun kissed hair fell down her back, held back by a head band as dark gray eyes glared at Ichigo, a plush, pink mouth pulled into a very thin line.

The girl next to Orihime was the opposite of her, being much leaner, smaller in body type. She had black hair that spiked everywhere in a neat mess as dark eyes glittered with some unknown emotion. Shinji mused that she was on Orihime's side without any information from Ichigo's side.

It made Shinji's hackles rise.

The other male was watching everything with a curious look on his face, brown eyes looking over everything. Light brown hair was somewhat shaggy and flared outwards at the ends in an odd quirk. Outside of his lighter coloring, he looked like any other male in Karakura, rather unobtrusive.

Shinji made a note to just watch the young man as he lead Ichigo to sit down across from the others, pulling his chair out and pushing it in as Ichigo sat down. Sitting down himself, he smiled brightly, the smile holding a razor's edge to it.

"Shinji-kun, this is Sado, Orihime, Tatsuki and Keigo. I've told you about them before," Ichigo introduced, leaning into his friends shoulder with a slight smile on his lips. "Everyone this is Shinji Hirako, a friend and customer of Lolita's Dream," he continued, patting Shinji's arm.

"Lolita's Dream? Is that where you work now?" Keigo asked, looking vaguely interested, asking the question they all were wondering.

"It is. It's also the shop that myself, Ishida-kun and Ryuuken-san own. It's in downtown actually," Ichigo replied, brushing a bit of his hair back as the lawyer walked in. He was smirking, looking good in a simple dark gray suit, a softer grey shirt laid under it. His long blond hair was neatly pulled back at the base of his neck and bright eyes swept over the group as Ichigo greeted him with, "Hello, Rose-san."

"Ichigo-san, a pleasure as always. I take it the extras were requested to be here?" Rose asked, sitting down at the head of the table as his eyes swept over the others.

"I asked Shinji-kun to come with me. The others I'm not so sure about," Ichigo responded, turning his gaze to the others, eyebrow cocked.

"I asked Keigo-kun and Tatsuki-chan to come with me and Sado-kun. I figured we could use the witnesses," Orihime said. Ichigo noticed that her voice was deeper, richer then before, almost soothing. It still made him twitch in slight displeasure at hearing it.

"Very well. So, I shall start the reading of Isshin Kurosaki's will," Rose drawled, opening the folder before him. "I, Isshin Kurosaki, being of sound mind and body do hear by state within this will my wishes for when I die."

In the end, Ichigo was named sole heir due to Karin and Yuzu's death, meaning that nearly 2 million yen in the two trust funds, 156,175 yen in a savings account and nearly 78,087 in a regular account went to him. Along with that was the deed to the clinic and house that had been signed over to him nearly 6 months before their deaths as a precaution.

Orihime had been given a small tuition boost for her own college expenses, her face carefully blank at the news. Sado just hummed when he was told he got the same. The will stated that it was for their help with the clinic and his daughters in the last few years.

The will also expressed Isshin's sorrow for having pushed his young son away for his personal choices and his pride in how the young man had pulled himself up and fulfilled his dream. It left Ichigo sniffling and rubbing at his eyes with a tissue provided by Shinji and Orihime not looking entirely pleased. The others were harder to read, even as they signed the paperwork put before them.

An hour later, they had arrived at the house, Shinji watching as Ichigo gazed up at the building that held his childhood memories and had been legally his for nearly 6 months from the information that Rose had given him. He was still visibly shaken, but a part of his scarred heart had also been soothed by his fathers' last written words. Shinji hadn't stopped touching him in the entire ride back, and even had stopped by one of Ichigo's favorite ice cream shops and bought him a half gallon of his favored ice cream.

"Why didn't he ever tell me…?" Ichigo finally asked, blinking at Shinji with wet eyes. Shinji reached over and stroked a thumb across his cheek.

"I don't know why, Ichi-chan. Maybe when we find his journal, we'll be able to answer that question," Shinji said, getting a nod. "Come on. Let's go inside and continue to go through things, clean the house up, yeah?" he asked, once more getting a nod for an answer.

"Yeah," Ichigo sighed, opening the door and sliding out of the car. Closing the car door behind him, they headed into the house, Shinji walking to the kitchen, finding Ryuuken putting milk and juice away into the refrigerator.

"I found a freezer downstairs stuffed full of food," Ryuuken said in greeting.

"I'll tell Ichi-chan in a few moments," Shinji promised as he placed the ice cream away. Ichigo's steps reached their ears, heading up the stairs before fading. He frowned and looked to Ryuuken, staring him in the eye, standing straight and serious. "My company will be coming around 8:30 today, in about 4 hours, give or take. There's gonna be some changes for a few weeks and they're really important to not only keep you and the employees of Lolita's Dreams safe but also Ichigo."

"So, whoever murdered his father and sisters may come after him just to completely wipe out the Kurosaki family, correct?" Ryuuken asked lowly, eyes narrowing. Shinji gave a sharp nod, sending the man into a fit of muffled cursing.

"So, my company will be your bodyguards at the request of Byakuya-san's team. Each of you will be watched over by one of us. The Guardians take our positions very seriously and if it's who we think it is, things are going to get very hairy very soon," Shinji stated, cocking his head to the side as Ichigo came down the stairs once more.

"I could cut and butter my bread with all of the tension in here. What's going on?" Ichigo asked, standing before the two men. Shinji had to grin at just how cute he looked in the pair of old jeans and a giant shirt he had changed into, leaving his feet bare and his hair still up in a bun.

"Just warnin' him about what's gonna happen in about four hours," Shinji drawled, making his body relax as he shoved his hands into the pockets of his jeans. "I need to head to my apartment, grab clothes and the such. I'll be back soon. You, my dear Ichi-chan, stay inside, yeah?"

"Yeah, yeah," Ichigo huffed, pouting playfully at Shinji before smiling at him. "Don't take too long and see if you can't pick up some fresh chicken at the store would you?" he asked.

"No problem," Shinji drawled, heading out to do that. Once he was sitting in his car, away from the house, he took his phone out and called Aizen's phone as he stopped at a light. "The will has been read and the paperwork was filled out fully. He's safe at home, hurting and hiding it, a bit raw emotionally, but otherwise good. I met some of his old friends, from when he lived on this side of town, at the reading too," he said once he had his partner on the phone. He could hear the sound of clacking keys slow down.

"Which ones?" Aizen finally asked, his voice musing.

"Orihime, Sado, Tatsuki and Keigo. I forgot their last names," Shinji drawled, getting a low chuckle.

"Don't worry; I have their names on file. We will be talking with them ourselves eventually," Aizen promised." Tell me, Shinji-kun, what were your thoughts on them?" he asked, curiosity tinting his voice. It wasn't long before Shinji was turning into his parking lot, not far from Ichigo's family home, parking quickly before heading for his apartment as he thought.

"Sado seemed pretty straight forward. He's very quiet, strong not only in body but also mind and heart," Shinji started as he stepped inside, kicking the door closed behind him with his foot. "He's not rash but I have a feeling there is more as to why he hasn't contacted Ichigo since he left, but I can't just put my finger on what I get from him though. I do think that soon he'll come around to talk with Ichigo, try to fix things up."

"So, strong, quiet, possibly, a hidden talent?" Aizen summed up, Shinji grunting in agreement. "Tell me about Keigo."

"He's exactly what he seems to be actually, which set me off at first," he said, walking into the bedroom and flipping the light on. Using one hand, he grabbed his suitcase from his trip and opened it, shoving the bag of dirty laundry to the side and grabbing the bag of souvenirs, putting them onto his bed. "He seemed to be watching before making a decision. From what I saw, he had grown from the boy that Ichigo had told me about before. There's a slight chance he might pop up and try to speak with Ichigo some time soon, but it's slim at the moment."

"I see," Aizen mused. Shinji could hear the gears grinding away seamlessly in his head, taking the chance to put his phone on speaker. Opening his closet, he started to gather new clothes, folding them up and placing them into his suitcase. "Tatsuki: talk to me about her."

"She seems to be… amazingly over protective of Orihime and tends to jump the gun when things happen," Shinji slowly said, smoothing his pants down. "I don't think she has all of the facts about what happened between Ichigo and his father. Or perhaps she has twisted facts that are the farthest from the truth from Orihime."

"Do you think that she will be a problem?" Aizen asked.

"I don't think so. If anything, she'll stay far away from Ichigo, if possible," Shinji admitted. "At least as long as Orihime doesn't try to do anything. I'll get to her in a moment," he said, stopping the question he could feel coming a mile away. "Tatsuki is fiery but I have a feeling she has a hidden talent, possibly an empathy talent."

"I see. I'll have Gin talk with her when the time comes," Aizen promised. Shinji grunted and closed his suitcase, grabbing a duffle bag and started to pack it. "Now, about Orihime, tell me about her. I have a feeling she makes your hackles raise up," he continued, making Shinji wonder how the man could read him so easily.

"Yeah, I really don't like her," he drawled, placing his laptop case into the duffle bag and gathered his thoughts about the girl he had met. "It was like she expected something more from Isshin's death beyond the tuition fees, and that she had thought that Ichigo had been cut from the will entirely. Her feelings were so strong that even I felt it. And considering I'm nearly a dud to emotions? That's sayin' something."

"That is worrying. Do you think she will try anything? Talk to people she shouldn't?" Aizen asked, Shinji picking up his phone again.

"No, I don't think she'll talk to anyone, but if the opportunity presents itself, she'll try to do something," he stated, tone dark. "She holds a lot of hate towards Ichigo and I don't know if he would have any idea as to why she does."

"Find out. I'll go back and reread what we have on her sometime in the next few hours. Take care of Ichigo and stay safe. Take your book," Aizen ordered.

"Yes, Aizen-san," Shinji replied before hanging up.


	7. Like a Bullet 6

Title: Like a Bullet

Fandom: Bleach

Chapter: 6

Pairings: Ryuuken/Hanatoru, TBA

Word Count: 2,640

AN: Yes…Chapter 6. It's 6:25 in the bloody morning. Deal with me being blah.

As always, this was edited by Cutsycat. I do not give her enough credit.

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Smirking as they watched Ichigo fuss and fiddle with the snacks and drinks as they waited for everyone to arrive at the house, Shinji finally reached out and tugged on his hand. He pulled him down to sit next to him, stopping him from getting up again by wrapping an arm around his waist.

"Calm down, Ichi-chan. Things are fine, and will be fine," Shinji drawled, getting a glare from Ichigo before he got comfortable on the couch.

"Meanie," Ichigo pouted, poking Shinji in the ribs as he shook his head. "I hope you know that you're getting the damn door now that I'm sitting," he said, getting a pout from Shinji, smirking at the look.

"So mean," Shinji whined, Ichigo rolling his eyes at his friend's dramatic acting.

"Yes, yes, so very mean. So mean that I've never accepted a date with you and gave you a birthday discount at the store," Ichigo drawled, Shinji's smirk stretching wide as he leant down and nuzzled into his neck. He could smell the soft musk that Ichigo preferred to wear compared to perfume or cologne. It was something that Lolita's Dream carried. Delighting in the scent, he pulled Ichigo into his lap, getting a protest form the man, which was ignored as he buried his nose into the scented neck.

"Stop molesting my godson before me would you?" Ryuuken asked, his tone tinged with laughter as he sat down on a recliner next to the couch. Ichigo snickered and relaxed into Shinji's arms, letting him do what he wanted to do.

"Leave him be, Ryuuken-san," he said, smiling at Ryuuken as he played with the pack of cigarettes that he wanted to open. But Ryuuken knew if he did, Ichigo would gut him with a rusty spoon.

"Fine," Ryuuken said as the doorbell finally rang. Putting Ichigo to the side, Shinji stood, checking his gun before tucking it into his back holster, his charge scowling at the sight of it.

"Must be one of the groups," Shinji mused, kissing the top of Ichigo's head with a smile before leaving the living room.

Ryuuken leant forward and asked, "Are you and Shinji-san serious?" getting a startled look from Ichigo.

"No, not at the moment," he finally said as the sound of the front door opening filtered to their ears. "When we met, the store had only been open for a few months and lately I've been doing my online classes."

"So all of the flirting is…" Ryuuken trailed off, raising an eyebrow.

"Just that. Flirting between friends," Ichigo replied as a small male walked into the living room. Dark hair fell down to slim shoulders as wide, dark eyes trailed over the two men, a flush spreading over sweet cheeks as a bright smile pulled at thin lips. "Hello, Hana-chan," he greeted.

"Hi, Ichi-chan," Hanatoru greeted, leaning over to kiss Ryuuken on the lips with a happy hum of pleasure. "Hello, lover," he sighed as they broke the kiss.

Shuuhei soon followed after Hanatoru, a vase with paper flowers in hand, long fingered hands curled around it with a surprising gentleness. Short, dark hair spiked upwards as slanted eyes glinted darkly under sculpted eyebrows as he maneuvered his lean strong body around the furniture to place the vase down before Ichigo. Leaning over, he hugged Ichigo, feeling soft lips brush over the 69 and the scars that ran down his forehead down over his cheek.

"Hey, Ichi-chan," Shuuhei greeted, voice darkly rich, making Ichigo smile sweetly up at him.

"Ichigo-chan, father," Ishida greeted, stepping in and sitting down next to Ichigo as he was eyed by his friend, noticing the fringe of dark hair, hair that shone blue under the right light, was mussed. It still fell around Uryuu's face while the shorter strands stuck up around his head but it was noticeable that it was mussed. Pale skin was flushed and the lean body was nearly limp in exhaustion.

"Long day at the shop?" Ichigo asked in curiosity, Ishida nodding as he stretched his legs out as his head flopped back as Tessai walked in.

Tessai worked in the back and was the main muscle of the shop. He was the tallest of them all and wore sunglasses most of the time. Tanned skin often interested Ichigo as strongly define muscles shifted with every movement of the large man. What truly interested Ichigo were the rows of braids that Tessai kept his hair in, wanting to undo them all and run his finger through the loose hair.

Ichigo made sure to keep a firm hold on those urges. No need to make the large man look at him oddly.

"Hello, Tessai-kun," Ichigo greeted, Tessai nodding with a smile, taking up a standing position behind his employer and friend as they waited for the Guardians to arrive.

Sitting back, Ichigo watched over his friends, already worried about their safety, knowing what was possibly after them.

"So, before the others arrive, I suppose I should tell you guys what happened to my father and two sisters." Taking a slow, deep breath, feeling Tessai rest his hands on his shoulders, Ichigo started to tell everyone the basics of what was happening, had happened and probably would happen, everyone's eyes glued to him.

"Damn," Uryuu finally said, eyes wide as Ichigo finished with his story. "So, for some odd reason, these Bounts came after your father and sisters and killed them. Now that you're here, they might come after you just to round out the family death?"

"Pretty much. And since everyone here is connected to me, Byakuya-san thinks that maybe you might be in trouble to," Ichigo warned, relaxing under the stroking, nearly massaging, hands. "They should be here soon," he said, looking at the wall clock that read 8:20. As he finished the sentence, the doorbell rang. Shinji was quick to disappear from the spot that he had taken near the living room door to open it. After a few moments, The Guardians walked in, being lead by Aizen.

The two groups eyed each other for a few minutes, Ichigo's friends nibbling on the snacks provided before Uryuu decided that sizing up the new people was too tiring.

"These people are the Guardians, right?" he asked, looking to Ichigo, who smiled slightly.

"Guardians, I would like to introduce Uryuu Ishida, his father Ryuuken Ishida, Hanatoru Yamada, Hisagi Shuuhei and Tessai Tsukabishi, my work team at Lolita's Dreams and close friends," Ichigo drawled, pointing to each person.

"Hello, everyone. I am Sosuke Aizen. My people are Soi-Fon, Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez, Ikkaku Madarame, Yumichika Asagaywa, Coyote Starrk, Szayel Aporro Grantz, Ichimaru Gin, Kensei Muguruma and as you all know, Shinji Hirako," Aizen introduced. "Has Ichigo-san told you about what happened to his family?" he asked, everyone nodding. "Good. Everyone, find a spot to sit, we do have much to talk about in what I suspect is very little time. You all look exhausted."

"Time for stock to come in," Shuuhei replied, dropping down onto the floor as he grabbed a can of soda and a small bowl of chips. "We were tagging things along with dealing with our customers." Kensei looked to him and wondered just why they had to watch him so closely. Shuuhei had been one of three, Tessai and Ichigo the other two, that they had trouble getting a lot of personal information on. By his face and eyes, his past was interesting if not sad.

For the moment, Kensei took his own seat and turned to pay attention with the others.

As they sat and listened about who the Bounts were and just why they were such a danger to everyone, Ichigo stayed quiet, rubbing the rim of his cup while staring at the coffee within it. Aizen kept a close eye on the young man as Soi-Fon and Starrk answered questions.

"Ichigo-san, you've been quiet this whole time. Care to share as to why?" Aizen asked lowly, eyes worried for him. Ichigo blinked and looked up from his coffee cup, eyebrows drawing together as he gazed at him.

"What?" he asked, sounding as if he hadn't heard a thing that had been said in the last few minutes.

"I was curious as to what was making you so quiet the last little while," Aizen said, shifting in the kitchen chair, watching Ichigo flush and hide behind his cup as he took a drink of coffee.

"I was thinking about what you said about that Jin Kariya guy. You said that all you really know about him is that he looks to be of Germanic ancestry, or at least that's what the facial profile guy caught," Ichigo said, frowning lightly. "What I want to know is how the hell did he remember that without remember anything else about Kariya anyways?"

"I can answer that one," Gin chirped as he stepped forward. "We think he has the ability to obscure any memory of his actual looks. The facial profile that saw him was able to remember the shape of his face because that's what he's trained to do."

Ichigo hummed and frowned lightly before asking, "How many people have seen the Bounts, really? And actually lived to tell the tale?"

"More then enough, surprisingly, but again, no one can remember what they look like due to Kariya's ability," Soi-Fon snapped, Ichigo frowning heavily at her. She hadn't been exactly nice to him and with everything that had gone on in the last 48 hours, he was stressed out and ready to snap back. Her next words made his face go blank and Shuuhei scoot away from him, much to most of the Guardians curiosity. "Do you have any more idiotic questions, child?"

Taking a low, slow breath, Ichigo placed his coffee cup down and stood from the couch, smoothing his skirt down, gazing at the woman with cool eyes.

"You know, the first time I met you, I thought that you were cool, kinda stand offish and decided to just generally let you do your job," he drawled, his voice a rolling purr that sent Hanatoru, Shuuhei, Ryuuken and Ishida moving for areas out of Ichigo's immediate sight. Tessai just went still and waited. "Ya, you glared at me, but I figured that you were stressed out with a new case and learning new details. But that last question makes me wonder why you're so pissy to me."

"Is there a fucking question?" Soi-Fon snapped, jerking when Ichigo glared sharply at her.

"If you'd let me finish what I want to say, then yes, there is," Ichigo growled, making Tessai twitch and the bodyguards stare at him in surprise. They hadn't expected him to have such a rough sounding growl. "Now, my question is this. What did I do to you to piss you off? Did I kick your pet without knowing it? Did I somehow insult you? Do my clothes sear your eyes because I'm a _male _wearing _female_ clothing? Or is it just because I am a male?" he sneered, a dark look in his eyes. Soi-Fon's lips thinned out as she stiffened.

"Oh, boy, not good," Ryuuken muttered, Starrk and Aizen rubbing at their temples. They could feel the cold anger that barely shimmered under a level of sheer rage, the feeling of it acting like a frozen ice pick stabbing into their temples.

"Ah, I see. You don't like men, do you? You probably respect your co-workers but that's only after years of working side by side with them, but you don't really like them," Ichigo said, once more, his voice a rolling purr as he placed a hand on one hip. "Then I come along, dressed like a woman and I'm a male. I have a flat chest and a dick between my legs. I insult your very sensibilities. I am not an idiot, I never have been. I run a business and I have a 4 point oh GPA at the same time. Never once have I insulted a woman who didn't push me past my very strong level of patience. So take your prejudice about men and shove it up your ass. I won't put up with your unneeded meanness, especially since most of the people you will be watching and working with are either gay or bi males!"

"Ouch, what a rant," Shuuhei muttered, wincing. "Ichi-chan doesn't care about status or people's opinions, and when there is unneeded and un-welcomed prejudice near him, he gets pissy," he said louder before Ichigo sniffed and stalked off, the sound of his footsteps walking up the stairs fading quickly.

"I'll tell him what we discuss later," Shinji promised, glaring at Soi-Fon who had decided to shut up and sit down out of the way.

"That's fine. Talking about powers right now, how about we discuss our abilities. As you probably know, everyone on my team has some level of empathetic talent. I'm on the higher end of that ability, but my main Talent has been named Soul Searching," Aizen said, drawing the attention back to the main reason as to why they were there.

"Soul Searching?" Hanatoru asked, Aizen turning his gaze to the young male and smiling.

"I can gaze into anyone's soul, see who they are and if they're a Talent themselves," Aizen explained. Ryuuken and Shuuhei looked at him with curious eyes, feeling that the man wasn't telling them everything about his ability but let it slide for the moment.

From there, Aizen went over the others abilities.

Gin had a mind that worked as fast as a computer and was able to use it as a voice profiling system, taking the pitch and tone, and telling if the person was lying, telling half truths or full truths. He was also on the lower end of the empathetic scale that had been created.

Soi-Fon was an aura reader and somewhere the middle of the scale, while Starrk was her counterpart as an aura manipulator and higher on the empathetic scale.

Kensei, Ikkaku and Grimmjow had varying degrees of strength and speed, only increasing in abilities when they had their weapons of choice in their hands. All three were lower end empathetics.

Szayel was much like Gin with his computer like mind, able to store information until, as he stated it, deleted it mentally. Like his counterpart, he was low on the scale and so was Shinji, who was pretty simple with his abilities. His various senses were enhanced when he wanted them to be, making him the sharp shooter of the group.

Yumichika was one that had talent that could be dangerous if used on the wrong side of the law. He could hypnotize a person as long as he kept either skin on skin contact or eye contact with the person. His ability was expanding and growing to the point where he was able to keep a person under his power for a short time without any contact with the person.

After they had talked Talent, they shifted to who would watch over who. It ended up with Ikkaku and Yumichika assigned to watch Hanatoru and Ryuuken, respectively. Kensei would be tailing Shuuhei, much to his delight seeing as he really wanted to get to know him, especially since he had gone back to sitting on the couch, almost falling asleep in his coffee.

Starrk was assigned to Uryuu, while Shinji had already claimed Ichigo. Aizen had offered to watch over Tessai before the man had admitted that he had a Talent himself, which was close to the warding that the temple priests and priestesses had done in days long past.

Once that was done, they headed home, the Guardians who were doing the guard work following after their charges that they had been given. Ichigo simply watched them leave from his bedroom window.


	8. Like a Bullet 7

Title: Like a Bullet

Fandom: Bleach

Chapter: 7

Pairings: Ryuuken/Hanatoru, One sided Jin/Ichigo

Word Count: 1,353

AN: I'm so tired…really, really tired. *yawns and curls up*

And can I just say what you are about to read is a FANTASY! Not the real thing. Fantasies are entirely different then what will actually happen.

* * *

"So, why exactly did we take the Kurosaki case?" The question came from a large man who was lounging in a chair, fixing what looked to be a pair of headphones, if the parts scattered around him were any indication. His short red-orange hair fell around his face as he frowned, dark eyes glaring at the component in his hands. Running his hand through his hair, he looked up and gazed at the German before him with bored eyes.

"It wasn't for monetary gain if that's what you are wondering, Koga," Jin drawled, silver eyes staring at his companion, a smirk on his lips.

"Then why?" Koga asked, putting the headphones aside to fix later. He was curious as to why they had killed the Kurosakis; he wasn't feeling guilty about the mission or filling it, he was just vaguely curious. On top of that, they were watching a fourth Kurosaki; Cain was the one to guard over and spy on the young cross dresser.

"Because of Ichigo-san," Jin said, voice a rolling purr as he walked away from his window, picking up the picture of Ichigo. He had been wearing jeans and an old t-shirt, taking out garbage in front of what used to be the Kurosaki Clinic. Running his long fingers over the picture, Jin's blood red eyes glowed with something akin to anticipation. Koga blinked and tilted his head slightly at the look in his eyes.

"He doesn't seem all that amazing really. He's pretty, that's for sure, but there are prettier males out there," Koga finally said, picking up another picture of when Ichigo had been food shopping just before his families' deaths. "He can be considered exotic for a Japanese male, especially since he is a cross dresser that actually looks good in a dress or skirt and with his coloring."

"It's more then that, Koga, my dear friend," Jin drawled, sitting down across his friend. Resting his elbows on the table, he set his chin on his interlocked fingers and crossed his legs. "He has a Talent that isn't something that can be tested or felt by others. His is a latent Talent, but can be made to if he's trained properly."

"A latent Talent? Really now?" Koga asked, eyes turning back to the pictures of the man that Jin was so interested in. "What kind is it?"

"He's a hypnotizing one, but not just by touch and eye contact, but by everything that he is. Sight, sound, taste, his whole body is able to hypnotize. The only reason someone is able to do that, latent or not, is if their parents were Talents themselves. And I know for a fact that his father was not one," Jin said, smirking at Koga. "I think that his mother was a hypnotic Talent but I can't find anything on her. She apparently died when our young Ichigo was barely six years of age, right before Talents started to really come out of the proverbial closet and be accepted by society for the most part," he continued, watching as Koga started to go over the pictures with a more critical eye.

"So, he's at the least a second generation Talent with latent hypnotizing abilities," Koga said, already musing about what he was learning about the fourth Kurosaki. "So, why _exactly _are we trying to get to him?" he asked, leaning back in his chair, the pictures spread out in a neat line.

"Because of his power. Well... not just because of his power, but also because he will make a lovely addition to our group," Jin drawled, eyes glowing as Koga smirked at him.

"Ah, so you want to get into our sweet Ichigo's panties, don't you?" he asked, voice rich with his amusement. "Though, I could see why you would want to, especially if you could do it while he's wearing one of his smaller skirts. Just imagine him, bent over, skirt shoved up, his perky little ass raised upwards, pretty panties covering his sweet skin."

Jin purred as the vision danced under his eyelids as he let his head drop back, shifting forward to leave room for his length that was swelling in his pants.

Koga had the Talent of creating images with his voice, something that Jin used whenever he was allowed to, not wanting to piss off Koga by abusing the privilege.

"I bet he would be looking over his shoulder, full mouth open and red, sweet sounds escaping his mouth. I bet his cheeks will be flushed a delicate red as he shifts and writhes on the table. Do you think he'll wear those black heels he seems to love so much?" Koga asked, watching Jin with darkening eyes.

Jin was actually seeing and feeling the scene of Ichigo bent over before him, hair spread out over the table before him. The young man was wearing a dark red skirt that was riding up his hips, showing black boy cut panties and thigh high nude stockings that covered long legs made longer by the black heeled, open toed sandals. Brown eyes were looking at him, large and needy, the blush and open mouth adding to the begging face. He could almost hear the pleading that would come from Ichigo.

_Ichigo was begging to be touched, arching his hips towards Jin, mewling happily when Jin finally touched his skin._ _Jin removed the black panties, exposing the ass that he so wanted to be buried in, before running his hands over the soft skin before him. He growled as he brushed his thumbs over the crack, Ichigo pushing back into his touch._

_Laughing lowly, Jin spread the other's ass and brushed a thumb over the pink entrance, feeling it twitch and flutter under his finger before pressing it against the pucker. Getting a sweet moan, the German groaned before grabbing the little bottle of lube from his pocket, pouring it over the entrance that he wanted. Using the slick substance, he pushed in a long finger, followed quickly by a second and a third, Ichigo mewling and pressing backwards onto them, his body sucking in the fingers, trying to keep them in him._

_Removing his fingers, Jin smirked at the cry of displeasure and slicked his cock with some of the lube, pressing the tip of it against the stretched entrance. Waiting until Ichigo whined and tried to move his hips back, he pushed into the lean body, hissing as he was swallowed whole by tight heat. Groaning, he rolled his hips, enjoying the slightly pained moan the move got before pulling out, rocking back in soon after. Setting a pace of long, strong thrusts, he growled at the way that Ichigo moaned and writhed under him, taking everything he got and begging for more._

_Soon, Jin was leaning over Ichigo, one hand gripping Ichigo's hip, more than likely leaving bruises, the other curled around his cock, moving it over the sweet length as he pounded into the tight hole. The loud cry and the tightening of the entrance that surrounded him told him that his bed mate had come, the slick wetness that covered his hand just proving it to him. Shoving deep into the limp body under him a few more times, he came, growling, eyes squeezed shut as he came to rest over his partner._

Opening his eyes, he smirked smugly at Koga, who was cleaning himself up and tucking his cock away. Jin hummed and cleaned up his own hand and groin with a tissue before tossing them into a trash can.

"That was very enjoyable, my friend. Thank you," he hummed, smirking as he stood up, making sure that his clothes were presentable. Gathering the pictures, he laughed softly when Koga tucked one of Ichigo's pictures away before placing the others into an envelope.

"So, when do we make our move?" Koga asked as he stood up, shoving a hand through his hair.

"Once Cain comes back with the new information on who is around our adorable Ichigo-san. Hopefully in a week's time," Jin mused, the two sharing knowing smirks between them.


	9. Like a Bullet 8

Title: Like a Bullet

Fandom: Bleach

Chapter: 8

Pairings: Ryuuken/Hanatoru, one sided Jin/Ichigo

Word Count: 2,377

AN: Another chapter, another round of happies. *nods*

* * *

It was the middle of the afternoon the day after the Guardians had been assigned, and Ichigo, Ryuuken, Yumichika and Shinji were in the Kurosaki attic, getting rid of the very little dust in the surprisingly tidy and well organized space. Or rather, Ichigo, Ryuuken and Shinji were getting rid of the dust while Yumichika shifted through files and boxes of books that looked much like accounting books.

"So, I was right about Soi-Fon, huh?" Ichigo asked as he brushed his gloved hands off, voice colored with surprise. They had found the gloves and masks in the clinic below, not wanting to deal with the dust and resulting sneezing fits. Shinji snickered and nodded as he stood up with another box, putting it down next to Yumichika before sitting next to him.

"Oh yeah. She's very much anti-male. No one knows why because she isn't talking, but there's every chance that Aizen-san would know. But again, he isn't talking if he does know," Shinji told him. Ichigo hummed as he dumped the dust in his mini vacuum into a bag; Ryuuken moving towards one window, opening it up to let some air into the attic. "Though, her hard on for you seems like its more then just her usual hate. I don't know why though because she's never met you before yesterday. Though, I have talked about you and the others often enough."

"She probably based her opinion on that and the fact that you're not only gay but also a cross dresser," Ryuuken mused as he walked over to the desk that sat near the steps that lead down stairs.

"The whole 'guy wants to be a chick' theory about gay guys," Yumichika mused, shoving the box he had just finished away from him and across the floor.

"I thought that line of thinking would have gone the way of the dinosaurs," Ichigo snorted, pulling off his gloves and tossing them away into a bag and removed his mask, tossing it onto the desk as Ryuuken sat in the desk chair.

"Apparently, if she's thinking it, she's trying to bring it back into being again," Yumichika snorted, shaking his head. "We'll keep her away from you so you won't have to deal with her."

"That would be nice," Ichigo replied, opening another box to start digging through, putting the filed information and monthly appointment books aside. Pausing, he slowly placed an appointment book down, drawing his companions' attention.

"What is it, Ichi-chan?" Ryuuken asked, looking up from the desk drawer that he had started going through.

"I think I found where dad hid his and the twins journals," Ichigo replied, lifting out a bright pink journal with _Yuzu _on the front of it, followed by a basic black journal, Isshin's name in white on the front of it. Several more with various years on them followed soon after, along with a box full of letters that had been addressed to but never sent to Ichigo, making him gaze at his three companions with a lost look on his face.

"Well, it looks as if I have a phone call to make," Yumichika stated, standing up. Ichigo nodded, piling the books back into the box, and standing up along with Shinji and Ryuuken. "Make sure that's all of their journals, Shinji."

"Yeah, yeah, Yumi-chan. Come on, let's do this at the kitchen table, where there's more room available to us," Shinji grumbled, leading the way down the stairs, Ichigo carrying the box. Once they were all in the kitchen, Yumichika paused to watch Ichigo pull out the journals, putting them in the order they were marked before he slipped out of the house, grabbing his phone on the way. He knew who he had to call but he wasn't really looking forward to the conversation about to take place.

Gin had said there was something about Ichigo that drew a person to him, but didn't know what. Yumichika was beginning to see what the other man had been talking about. To be around Ichigo was rather addicting, especially since he didn't even realize that he was doing it.

Shaking his head, Yumichika dialed Gin and waited for the man to pick up, figuring that the other man was just waiting for his call.

"Did something happen, Yumi-chan?" Gin asked. Aizen looked up from the files he and his friend had bought home, all of them about the Bounts and their victims.

"Nothing bad, Gin-kun" Yumichika murmured over the line as he leant back against the side of the house. "But can you tell Aizen-san that we discovered where the journals were placed? Or at least the ones we may want. We also found some letters from the elder Kurosaki to Ichigo-chan from the looks of them."

"Well, that is definitely some interesting news," Gin drawled, waving his hand at Aizen when the man moved to open his mouth to ask a question. "Is there anything else you'd like to tell me?"

"I can see where you would be worried about being around Ichigo for too long, but I don't think it's a Talent, just pure charisma," Yumichika said, looking in one window, spotting Ichigo smiling softly at what looked to be a letter from his father. "If he does have a Talent, it would likely be something like mine. If it is a Talent, it's not active."

"So, he's a possible hypnotist with a lot of draw then. Look, I'll call you later, after I speak with Aizen-san. Keep a close eye on Ichigo-san and if he starts to show any sign of it being used, call me after getting it to stop and building a wall," Gin finally said, getting a small grunt of agreement from Yumichika. Flipping the phone shut, he looked at Aizen and raised an eyebrow. "They found the journals, but they also found letters from Isshin Kurosaki to one Ichigo Kurosaki."

"That's good," Aizen replied, sounding rather amused about it all. "Now, what's this about a Talent?"

"There might be every possibility that our dear Ichigo has a Talent, a hypnotizing one at that. We did discover that Isshin didn't have one, but did we ever dig into his mothers past?" Gin asked as he flopped onto a chair, crossing his legs as Aizen shook his head. "Didn't think so. We should probably do that. We wouldn't want to be caught off guard if he does have one from his mother."

"You're right, I suppose. We shall do that, but later. I believe that I owe you lunch for the moment," Aizen drawled. As the two left, Gin couldn't help but wonder if that was the reason the Bounts had taken out the Kurosaki family, if only to get to a Talent who's ability was latent, but accessible with the right push.

Gin silently hoped not.

Back at the house, Ichigo was staring at the box of letters and dimly heard Ryuuken starting to make dinner while Shinji and Yumichika continued to go through boxes up in the attic. Leaning back, he continued to gaze at the very box that held some of the last words that his father had written to him.

Granted, they had never been sent, but still, they showed that his father had regretted his actions and words. It also showed him that his father had never felt as if he had deserved to be forgiven, something that Ichigo had done just months ago. He was terrified to pick up the journals though, knowing that they held memories that still stung and hurt.

Shaking off those memories, he reached out to pick up another letter to read, having read three of them already, just as the door bell rang. Blinking, he dropped the envelope back down into the shoe box and stood up from the table, walking out of the kitchen. Opening it up, the 'hello' died on his lips at the sight of Sado standing there with a gift basket, an envelope bearing his name and a bouquet of flowers.

"Sado-san? What are you doing here?" Ichigo asked in curiosity, making sure to keep his surprise out of his voice as the large man shifted on his feet.

"Can we please talk? I have much to say, preferably before I suddenly forget it," Sado said, looking around with a slight frown on his lips. Ichigo nodded and stepped back from the door.

"Of course, please, come in," Ichigo said, watching as Sado stepped in with a slight smile on his lips. "Would you like some tea?" he offered, leading the way into the living room.

"Yes, that would be nice," Sado hummed, holding out the three things to Ichigo. "You still like chocolate?" he asked.

"Yes, I do," Ichigo replied, taking the flowers, smelling the delicate scent that came from them. "Put the basket down on the table would you? I'll go put these into a vase," he said, smiling softly and walking into the kitchen. Sado smiled and nodded, putting the basket down as Ichigo headed to where Ryuuken was slicing some tomatoes.

"Was that Sado-san?" Ryuuken asked, curious as to why the large man was there. From what Ichigo had told him, the large man hadn't talked to Ichigo since he had hidden himself away from his family and friends to take the time to heal his heart and soul.

"Yeah, he's here to talk to me about something or another," Ichigo replied. Pulling out a vase and filling it with some water he removed the wrapper around the flowers and placed them into the vase. "He gave me a gift basket and these flowers. Aren't they gorgeous?"

"They are very gorgeous," Ryuuken drawled as Ichigo placed the vase onto the dining room table. Watching him make tea, Ryuuken mused that it was rather interesting that Ichigo was nearly glowing with happiness that Sado was there, even if he was just there to talk about whatever. Once the tea was done, Ichigo paused by the stairs, gazing at Shinji and Yumichika who stood at the top of them.

"It's just Sado-san," he told the two, Yumichika's eyebrow cocking in slight disbelief. Smiling at the two in what he hoped was a soothing way before continuing on his way to his living room, he put the tray down, his smile turning sad at the sight of Sado. Sitting down on his couch, arms resting on his knees and hair still falling into one eye, outside of the goatee that sat on Sado's chin, his friend hadn't changed. "It's been a long time, Sado-san."

"Yes, it has been," Sado rumbled, watching as Ichigo poured the tea with long delicate like fingers. He had always known that that his friend was lean all over, but to see how it translated over when he was actually cross dressing, it was a stunning visual effect. Ichigo looked much like the pictures of his mother, even in a pair of old jeans and a t-shirt, hair pulled into a messy bun. "Life has been treating you well, I hope."

"Yes, it has. I opened my store that I always wanted to, called it Lolita's Dream even," Ichigo said, handing over a teacup as he sat down in his own chair. "What I'm curious about is why you never returned any of my calls or letters those first few months," he said quietly, gazing at Sado over his teacup. Sado took a deep breath, calming his nerves down as he placed his own teacup down onto the table before him.

"The thing is that I never got any of your messages or letters. I didn't even know about them until yesterday. I got curious about something and went through Orihime's apartment. I found tapes that came from my old answering machine along with the letters," he said, lacing his fingers together, a thumb rubbing at the fleshy part of his hand.

"Orihime… stole your answering machine tapes?" Ichigo asked, eyes wide as he gripped his cup tightly. "That almost seems…"

"Impossible, right? Yeah, I believed the same thing until last year when she got really pissy about news of your shop getting really popular around the college campus. I learned really fast to not even mention Lolita's Dream, much less you. I was surprised when she got a job as your fathers' assistant," Sado explained, Ichigo's lips pulling into a frown.

"What about the letters?" he asked after a few moments. Sado looked up before shrugging.

"Like I said, I found them too, but I don't remember ever getting them. But apparently I did and was going to respond since there were some started letters from me with them," Sado replied lowly. Ichigo could feel the hairs on his arms rise upwards at the words. "I also found notes with your e-mail, phone number and the stores number, so it looks like I was preparing to call you but I forgot about it for whatever reason."

"Sounds like a very dangerous Talent in the hands of a very jealous female," Yumichika stated from the doorway, Ichigo and Sado looking up at him in surprise. Shinji and his friend were standing there and frowning, both looking to be in deep thought.

"But if she has a Talent, why hasn't she been found out? Especially with one that can be considered dangerous?" Ichigo asked, Sado's visible eye widening in shock.

"Could her jealousy turn into hatred in only a few years?" Sado asked, shivering lightly at the thought that she hated enough to destroy memories.

"If it was fueled by a serious dislike or hate for Ichigo's personal choices and life style choices? Than, yes, it can," Yumichika stated, coming to sit down on the edge of the coffee table. "As for why, if she hasn't run across someone who couldn't keep her away from the memories that she wants to destroy, she can go for years without being discovered. It looks as if you're going to stay here for a while, Sado-san, for the simple fact that you need to learn how to uncover these missing memories and to keep her away from them." Sado nodded as Shinji pulled out his phone to call Aizen and Gin to tell them the new information.


	10. Like a Bullet 9

Title: Like a Bullet

Fandom: Bleach

Chapter: 9

Pairings: Ryuuken/Hanatoru, One sided Jin/Ichigo

Word Count: 4,055

AN: And we're having fun with this. :3 Just enjoy.

* * *

Peeking into Ichigo's bedroom, Shinji checked that Ichigo was resting without any worry; the moonlight streaming through the sheer curtains, landing over his hip to spill down over Sado who laid on a futon. Nodding his head, he left the room and walked down to the living room where Yumichika sat with a cup of coffee, looking beautiful in even a pair of boxers and a baggy shirt. Sitting down next to his friend, Shinji picked up the latest journal of Isshin Kurosaki, finding the newest entries.

"It looks as if they stepped up their stalking in February and really created a world of paranoia for him," Yumichika finally said, Shinji nodding his head with a small frown on his lips. "This makes me wonder how long they were watching them without anyone knowing about it. You have to watch someone for nearly a full year to learn everything about them just so you can create a proper fear in them."

"More than likely were. Isn't one of the Bounts rather good at surveillance and spying?" Shinji asked, his nose already buried in the journal before him, eyes wide as he read over the information.

"I believe that was Spy Bug, otherwise known as Cain. He's one of the younger ones from what we know," Yumichika replied, frowning at his coffee cup. "Do you think Kariya knows or feels that Ichigo-san might have a latent Talent?"

"If he had them all followed around? I would have to say yes; and if Ichigo appeals to him enough, then he probably changed his plans in regards to somehow adding Ichigo to the Bounts," Shinji replied, flipping a page in the journal. "But if Ichigo-chan's charisma is adding to that interest, I fear that Kariya may want more than just his Talent," he continued, finally putting the journal aside as he gazed Yumichika. "We both know that he lusts after strong Talents. And if they're good looking? That's just an added ego boost."

"So he might actually want Ichigo-san as a bed partner more then he would want his Talent to awaken?" Yumichika asked, violet eyes flashing in distaste at the thought.

"No, he'll want the Talent as much as he'll want sex if my thinking is correct. Tell me, Yumi-kun, do you think our dear Ichi-chan is a virgin?" Shinji asked with a raised eyebrow.

"With the way he acts? He's much to shy not to be one, if a bit on the hot headed side," Yumichika said, frowning at Shinji. "What does that have to do with our conversation, Shinji?"

"Everything, in a way, at least when it comes to profiling Kariya. But you're wrong about Ichi-chan. He's had sex before, often for that matter. But he's good at hiding certain details about his personal life," he hummed, smirking at Yumichika's wide eyed look at the fact. Waving off the coming questions, he continued. "Now, the sexual appeal of Ichigo is that he looks and acts untouched. What if that's the way with Kariya? What if he wants to control Ichigo in all ways possible and that includes being his first and last?"

"So, control through sex is one possible way this guy could control our dear Ichi-chan. Another way is to insulate and break him down in such a way that Ichigo-san would be dependent upon him. He could even mix the two," Yumichika moaned, Shinji nodding.

"Oh yes. It all seems to start with Ichigo in some way. Kariya is more than likely obsessed with him if he is still working on the Kurosaki cases, and this chick, Orihime, has a hard on for him worst then Soi-Fon-san does, which says a lot," Shinji growled, tossing the journal down onto the table. Standing up, he paced back and forth before the window.

"And neither Kariya nor who called the job on the Kurosaki's probably expected Byakuya-san to pull out the big guns so soon, especially to watch over everyone that is connected to Ichigo-san. What do you think Kariya's next move will be?" Yumichika asked, watching Shinji peek out of the curtains before letting them drop back down.

"I have no idea. He may continue to watch and wait for the perfect opportunity to grab him or he may just flat out try to kidnap him," Shinji sighed, dropping onto the couch once more, a frown tugging at his lips.

"I suppose we're just gonna have to watch and wait, possibly burst out dear Bounts bubble this time around. We can only hope we get the chance to take them out finally," Yumichika drawled, draining his coffee cup and standing up to get a fresh cup. "On another note, what did Aizen-san and Gin-kun say about Sado-san's problem?" he asked as Shinji followed after him.

"That we need to keep him from Orihime until he has the skills to unlock memories once more at the very least, hopefully up to when he can hide that knowledge from her," Shinji replied. Pulling down his own mug, he was glad when Yumichika poured his coffee for him, adding some creamer as Yumichika added just sugar to his. Leaning against the counter, he fingered the gun that was sitting on his hip in its holster.

"So I suppose I'll start that while I'm here. Who will take over for me afterwards?" Yumichika asked, looking over the rim of his cup.

"Gin-san will actually, or at least that's what he said. All you have to do is lay the base for his training with Gin-san. He's also taking over protections since Sado-san might end up on the Bounts radar since he made up with Ichi-chan," Shinji said, smiling and sipping at his coffee as Yumichika nodded, looking as if he was already planning what he was going to do.

"What about this Orihime girl? What does Aizen-san plan on doing about her?" he asked after a few moments. Shinji gazed into his coffee, before looking up with a curious look, getting a smug smile in return. "What? She's a danger. On top of that, she could have information and not even know it, especially since she worked as the receptionist in Kurosaki-sans clinic."

"Ah, I see," Shinji drawled teasingly. Dodging the swat, he laughed at his friend who was starting to pout.

"Just tell me, you jerk," Yumichika huffed, deciding that it was too much work to actually hit Shinji.

"Fine, fine. He's gonna talk with her next week, after he interviews a few others that Byakuya-san talked with during the first week," Shinji drawled, brushing his hair back out of his face. "So, sometime next week, as long as the Bounts don't make a move before then, he will call us together for a meeting and he'll tell us what has been found out. By then, all of the tests will be done and we'll have more information on what happened with the Kurosakis."

"Sounds like a good plan to me," Yumichika hummed, getting a nod. After a final check of the windows and locks, the two headed for bed, Shinji crawling in next to Ichigo since he had given up his bed to Sado. Gazing at the braid that had draped itself over one shoulder, he promised himself to protect the red head, even if it meant dying himself or killing his opponent.

Tapping his pen on his desk, Aizen looked to Shunsui, who just smirked and shrugged his shoulders with a smile dancing on his lips.

"And why can't our dear Byakuya-san be the one to sit on the interviews?' he asked him slowly, eyes half lidded as he gazed at Shunsui who just laughed lowly.

"Because he's with Jyuushiro-kun to scan those letters and diaries that they found. Apparently they also found letters from Karin Kurosaki and they found Yuzu Kurosaki's massive recipe book," Shunsui replied. He was dressed rather simply, wearing a pair of tanned slacks and a dark blue button up shirt. "So, who is coming in first?" he asked, Aizen looking at an appointment book that sat open near his computer.

"Tatsuki Arisawa. She is apparently the best friend of Orihime Inoue, who I will be interviewing alone next week," Aizen stated, starting to move things around. Three pens were moved to within easy reach, two very thick legal pads were placed before him and a stack of stapled together papers with printed questions were placed next to the legal pads.

"Why alone?" Shunsui asked, watching as Aizen set up his desk for easy access to everything. A camera sat on the corner of the desk, propped up on a tripod and pointing towards the chair before the desk. Shunsui was sitting on a couch to the side, watching Aizen as he sat back finally.

"Due to the fact that she may be a Talent and there aren't many that can block their mind properly enough to not be affected by her abilities," Aizen said, frowning lightly to himself. "I'm also going to speak with Sado-san before I speak with her. I have a feeling that I'm going to need to speak with him to be properly prepared for the interview with her."

"I see," Shunsui drawled, the two looking at the door when someone knocked on it in sharp, firm raps.

"Aizen-san, your interview appointment is here," Szayel said as he opened the door, standing there with a frown on his face. "And tell me why I'm playing secretary? Can't anyone else do this? I have samples to test and run to Urahara," he asked, pink eyes flashing in disgust.

"Because I don't trust Grimmjow to do it and everyone else is gone doing their own jobs. For now, go ahead and head to your own office. I'm not expecting anyone else for a couple of hours yet," Aizen promised, Szayel rolling his eyes.

"You can go in now," Szayel told the young woman standing behind him. She gave him a long look before turning dark eyes towards Aizen and walking into the office. Szayel closed the door behind her and left for his lab, leaving the three alone.

"Ah, you must be Tatsuke Arisawa. I am Sosuke Aizen, the one who called you in. I know that Byakuya-san had Kira-san talk with you the day that they found the Kurosakis, but I'm hoping to go over the details with you now that the shock of their deaths has hopefully worn off," Aizen greeted, looking very calm and relaxed behind his desk. "This is also Shunsui Kyoraku, who works in the same division as Byakuya-san and Kira-san. He's here in an official capacity and to make sure everything is legal and useable when and if the case goes to court."

"Why do you say if?" Tatsuki asked, frowning at him with a worried look.

"There is a high chance that the case would never see the light of day. The statue of limitations can run out, or the suspects could end up disappearing into a no extradition country," Aizen replied, leaning forward and lacing his fingers together. "Worst case scenario can be that they would fight, taking out several officers, possibly civilians and the suspect could be taken out by the fire fight."

"I see," Tatsuki hummed, crossing her arms and leaning back in her chair, frowning at Aizen even more. "What's with the camera?"

"This is for future reviews should I need it," Aizen explained. Reaching over, he turned it on and fiddled with the screen, making sure that the camera was catching her just right. Picking up a pen, he wrote down the date, time, place, her name and some other basic information on the front page of his first legal pad. "This is Sosuke Aizen, head of The Guardians Bodyguard service with Shunsui Kyoraku, ballistic expert of The Homicide Specialty Unit interviewing Tatsuki Arisawa on October 21st, 2003. We are discussing the Kurosakis and their lives before their deaths.

"Now, Arisawa-san, please answer all of the questions as clearly as you possibly can and as thoroughly as possible," he said, smiling at her and getting a nod from her. "Arisawa-san, how did you know the Kurosakis?"

"I used to know Kurosaki-san's oldest child, Ichigo Kurosaki. When Ichigo was kicked out of their house 3 years ago I kept in touch with Yuzu-chan and Karin-chan, teaching Karin-chan some self defense moves," Tatsuki said, crossing her legs, voice even and almost bored.

"So, even though Ichigo-san left the house, you kept in contact with the family. I'm curious as to why," Aizen replied, raising an eyebrow as he wrote a few notes down.

"I kept in contact with them at first because of Orihime-chan. She was hoping at first that Ichigo would change his mind about his life style and come back," Tatsuki admitted slowly. "After that, I did it because I got to really know them, and to get closer to Yuzu-chan and Karin-chan."

"Alright," Aizen hummed, jotting more notes down on the pad before him. Frowning lightly, he looked up before gazing at Shunsui, who was looking interested at the moment. "Shunsui, feel free to ask a question if one strikes you."

"Arisawa-san, you said that at first Orihime Inoue thought that Ichigo-san would change and come back. What exactly did you mean by that?' Shunsui asked, Aizen jotting a note down on his legal pad about the question.

"She was really, really pissed off when it came out that Ichigo had lead what she called a double life. He looked rather normal for a guy while at school and the such, but it came out that he often went to gay pride things as a cross dresser and that he had had a few boyfriends," Tatsuki said, rubbing at her bottom lip. "She thought it was a phase that he would grow out of."

"But he never did. What happened with her after the fact that he wasn't going to change became apparent?" Aizen asked, curious about what had happened. He would get back to the original line of questions in a few moments; he wanted to get all he could get on Orihime.

"She ranted for an entire day before hunting down Ichigo's second to last boyfriend. Apparently, she blamed him for Ichigo going gay and he told her off. That was about the time she got really odd. Mind you, her hunting down one of Ichigo's boyfriends had happened before with his last boyfriend, the one he had before he had been kicked out of the house," Tatsuki explained, running a hand through her hair, looking down at her lap. "About that time, she started to work for Kurosaki-san, and got even weirder after that."

"I see. Shall we continue on with my other line of questions?" Aizen asked, with a smile, getting a shy smile and a nod. "So, while you were out with Yuzu-san and Karin-san, did you ever see anything that made you worry?"

"Not really. I mean, they all were acting off for a few months but than stopped for a few months, than they started up again for the last few," Tatsuki replied, blinking a few times. "Kurosaki-san was constantly watching over the girls with a very careful eye. He even got them panic buttons and extra phones just in case," Tatsuki said.

"And the girls?" Shunsui prompted, the young woman looking over at him.

"Karin would go kick soccer balls so hard that they would pop after a while. After that, she would do her homework or have a movie marathon when she wasn't with me or with Yuzu-chan," she said, shrugging. "Yuzu-chan had damn near started a small business in their kitchen, baking so much that Kurosaki-san's patients had started to buy them for her. All that money went back into the ingredients from there."

"I see," Aizen hummed, writing down even more notes. The interview continued, the three going over anything else that Tatsuki could think of. After he had shown her out, Aizen looked at Shunsui and shook his head. "This Orihime girl keeps popping up. It's almost as if she put herself in the middle of it on purpose."

"Do you think that's possible?" Shunsui asked curiously.

"At this point? I have no idea," Aizen admitted, rubbing at his face as he sat down once more. Pulling out a file, he looked at the information about Orihime Ioune that Byakuya's people had found on Shunsui's request, before frowning and shaking his head, tossing it before him on the desk.

"God, it's almost as if she was so squeaky clean that she nearly actually squeaked when she did things," Aizen groaned unhappily. Shunsui raised an eyebrow at him in some curiosity. "No record with the police, her brother died when she was 14, parents died early in her years, good grades and a scholarship to her college," he explained. "She worked part time to have a bit of extra money. Apparently her harassing Ichigo-san's exs were never reported or the charges never really went anywhere."

"So the exs never turned her in and if she did get in trouble, there is every chance that she used her abilities to get away with it," Shunsui said, Aizen nodding in agreement.

"Probably," he stated, standing up as his phone buzzed in warning. "Our next interviewee is here," Aizen stated, walking around his desk and opening his door, smiling at the lean male before him. He had black hair and eyes, his bangs flattering his face. "You must be Mizuiro Kojima. It's a pleasure," he greeted, smiling at the young man and holding out his hand.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Aizen-san," Mizuiro replied with a smile, taking the hand before him, shaking it before he followed Aizen into the room and took a seat before the desk.

"This is Shunsui Kyoraku, the ballistics expert of the Homicide Specialty Unit. He's here to make sure that I keep things legal so it can be used if the case goes to trial," Aizen introduced, sitting down and picking up his desk. "Now, I have a few questions about Orihime-san along with the Kurosakis. I've learned some things that seem at odds with Renji-san's observations, so I just want to see what your observations are about her," he said, getting a bright smile that seemed a bit dull or false. Aizen couldn't decide which.

"That sounds fine to me," Mizuiro returned. Shunsui hummed as he changed out the tape in the camera, putting it into a labeled case and then placing that into a bag behind the desk.

"Alright then. How did you meet Orihime-san?" Aizen asked once Shunsui had started the camera. Mizuiro rubbed at his chin before smiling at his memory.

"When I first met her, she was just some girl with a nice chest that hung out with, and on occasionally, Ichigo-chan," he said, sitting back and crossing his legs. "Since she wasn't an older female, I rarely paid any attention to her for a bit of time, at least until I got to know her. Then she was Orihime, who hung out with and on Ichigo-chan and had a nice chest."

Aizen and Shunsui's eyebrows rose upwards at the fact that Mizuiro called Ichigo, Ichigo-chan, prompting Shunsui to ask, "Why do you call Ichigo-san, Ichigo-chan?"

"There's actually a story to that. When he was found, he came to me first to get a ride to his godfathers place, still wearing a skirt with a small bag of stuff. Since I had a feeling that the shit would hit the fan, I told him that my part should be kept secret. He agreed and promised to never say anything about anything that happens between us. We've kept in contact since then and he's kept his word about never saying anything until I wanted to," Mizuiro stated, rubbing at his bottom lip. "My college life would have been made very difficult by Orihime is she knew about any of this."

"How so?" Aizen asked, furiously writing information down.

"She did a round of pissing off Ichigo's last ex-boyfriend. She called him, e-mailed him, sent letters to him. If he ever kept the evidence, it would disappear before he could take it to the police," he hummed, frowning unhappily at that. "She would have done the same to me or try to convince me to try to get him to change his mind about being gay and a cross dresser."

"From what I understand, that's changed in the last year or so," Aizen mused, looking up with a curious expression.

"I wouldn't know really, seeing as I've been studying and working most of the last 8 months. I started a series of accounting courses," Mizuiro stated.

"Alright, let's move on then. How did you meet Ichigo-san's family?" Aizen asked.

"I would often go over to Ichigo's house for nights over, weekend hangouts, lunches, dinners, birthdays, that sort of thing," was the explanation as he hummed happily. "Actually that was how I found out he was a cross dresser, completely on accident mind you. I was staying the night before his 16th birthday and looking for a place to hide his present and kind of ran across a pair of his undergarments and a skirt," he laughed, shrugging with a smile. "He admitted that he was gay, had had two boyfriends and cross dressed since age 14. I didn't care and kept his secret because he asked."

"Did you go to see the family after Ichigo-san left?" Shunsui asked, giving Aizen time to write down all of the information.

"Not really. I would buy sweets from Yuzu-chan on occasion when she started making a lot of them, and pre-made dinners to stock up on when I had to suddenly cram for tests and quizzes whenever she made too much," Mizuiro said, shrugging.

"What about Kurosaki-san? Arisawa-san said that you were working with him for a while," Aizen said, looking up from his notes.

"That was for a bit of extra money and for a project that I now have to get an extension on," the young man said, running a hand through his hair, the locks falling back into place if not a bit more ruffled. "I was working as his accountant for the last five months and then I would create a report about the rise and fall of the monetary part of a small time clinic. Seeing as Ichigo now owns said clinic, he has to send out final bills, notices and referrals to new doctors."

"Ah, so you rarely, if ever, saw the girls? But you saw Kurosaki-san quite often during your time working as a temporary accountant," Aizen summed up.

"That's correct. I also dealt with Orihime-san on occasion, whenever she tried to deny me access to a file so I could make sure that what I was billing someone was correct," Mizuiro stated, smiling slightly as a flash of anger apparent in his eyes caught Shunsui and Aizens attention. "Otherwise, I tended not to bother with her at anytime, working up in the attic office or in their living room"

Aizen nodded and wrote a few more things down before asking Mizuiro a few more questions, leading him out after they were done and taking his and Shunsui's lunch from Szayel , who then disappeared into his lab once more. Closing the door and tossing his companion his sandwich, he found his way to his chair again.

"So, what are we going to do now? Outside of eat this food that is," Shunsui asked, unwrapping his sub and looking at how it was built before biting into it.

"We'll do the next two interviews with Sado-san and Keigo Asano, and then we'll talk with the two groups about what was discovered about the Kurosakis and more then likely Orihime," Aizen replied, opening his own sandwich. Checking to make sure that his sandwich was properly built, he bit into it and sat back as he chewed, Shunsui watching him in amusement.

"Why do I think that the problem with Orihime and the Bounts are getting closer and closer together?" Shunsui finally asked, wiping his mouth with a napkin.

"Because it is, as much as neither of us wish to admit to it," Aizen finally admitted, rubbing his own lips with one of his napkins.


	11. Like a Bullet 10

Title: Like a Bullet

Fandom: Bleach

Chapter: 10

Pairings: Ryuuken/Hanatoru, one sided Jin/Ichigo

Word Count: 2,971

AN: I am…exhausted! *yawns*

* * *

Tossing his sandwich wrapper away, Shunsui looked to Aizen, who was looking worried about something, his legs crossed, one twitching with his agitation.

"What's going on in your head, Aizen-kun? You're as twitchy as a neurotic cat in a room full of rocking chairs," Shunsui finally said, frowning at him. Aizen finally sighed and let his head fall back onto his chair, his hair falling back from his face, having run his fingers through it on a near constant basis between interviews.

"I can't help but think that something is going to happen and it will not be pretty," Aizen finally admitted, frowning unhappily. "When the case first started, it looked as if the Bounts were going to be our only problem. But as we continue to investigate, even five days in, we're discovering that somehow Orihime has wound herself into the Kurosakis life so damn much that it's hard to find a time she wasn't doing something with them in the last three years," he complained, shoving himself out of his chair. Pacing around the room, Aizen growled to himself, amazed at what they were finding out as Shunsui finished his soda and thought about Aizen's worries.

"It kinda reminds of that first job that we know Kariya pulled. Remember how he instated himself in the victims' life? He was nearly a part of every single piece of this woman's life that she ended up leaving everything to him not three days before she dies. Wasn't that like one of his first jobs, right when he was creating the Bounts?" he asked, waving his bottle at him.

"Yes, but this is Orihime, and I highly doubt that she's going to suddenly create a vicious group of Talents who go around pulling con jobs and murders for money," Aizen said, frowning at how close Orihime Inoue and Jin Kariya were when it was striped down to that. A knock on his door drew him out of his musings. "Yes?" he called, Szayel opening the door to poke his head into the room.

"The last person for today is here," the pink haired man drawled, pointing to Keigo who stood behind him, waving a hand at them.

"Ah, thank you, Szayel-san. Asano-san, please, come in," Aizen said, smiling as he waved a hand as he once more sat down behind his desk Szayel closed the door behind Keigo as he sat down. "As you probably know, I'm Sosuke Aizen and this is Shunsui Kyoraku, the Homicide Specialty Units ballistics expert. He's here to…"

"Make sure that everything is legal, yes, I know," Keigo interrupted with a smile. "Mizuiro called me up and gave me that information. He also asked if I still had a copy of something that I got a while back."

"And what would that be?" Shunsui asked as he changed tapes once more, Keigo pulling a backpack around front. Opening it, he handed over a thick pile of papers with a knowing look.

"I was dating Orihime about a year back, maybe a little longer then that. While I was dating her, I got real curious as to what made her carry around these little books and constantly write in them, so I snuck a peek at them one day," he explained as Aizen looked them over with a curious look. "She kept detailed records of what she did and what everyone else did. Kinda like a spy book. She also had some mini rants and a computer journal that she kept updated on her laptop."

"Did you get a copy of that to?" Aizen asked distractedly as he flipped through the pages.

"I did but it's encrypted and I didn't want to go to the police with nothing and only a lot of suspicions," Keigo said, digging around his bag again and pulling out a few CDs.

"I have someone who can work on that for us. Thank you for this, Asano-san," Aizen hummed, nodding his head with a smile as he placed the pile of papers into a drawer with the CDs. "So, shall we get down to business?" he asked, lacing his fingers together, leaning forward as Shunsui started the camera.

"Yeah, let's do that. I did promise to call Sado-kun in a couple of hours. He wants to talk about Ichigo-san," Keigo hummed, a flash of sadness sliding through his eyes.

"Alright, to start with the question, we'll start with the Kurosakis. How well did you know them?" Aizen asked, legal pad before him, pen poised.

"Well enough I suppose. I volunteered at Karakura High, and Yuzu-san and Karin-san came around for tutoring sometimes. Yuzu-san used to sell me baked goods or just gave them over when she had too much to sell," Keigo stated, shrugging as a smile tugged at his lips. "I saw Kurosaki-san every so often for doctor appointments since he was my doctor and I needed to see him on occasion," he continued. "I always tried to make the appointments for when Orihime wasn't there when she started to work for him."

"Why was that?" Shunsui prodded.

"Because her attitude freaked me out. She acted as if she owned the world just because she worked at the Kurosaki Clinic," he explained, scowling. "If you were even a few minutes late, she would try to make you wait for nearly two months for a new appointment. Tried to, but if you demanded to see Kurosaki-san about that, she'd back off really fast. She'd still make things difficult for you, especially if you were a pretty female. I think she saw them as competition for Kurosaki-sans attention," Keigo continued.

"My, my, her attitude knows no bounds," Aizen drawled, shaking his head. "It looks as if I'll have to be careful when I talk to her later this week," he said, gazing at Shunsui, who nodded.

"You will indeed need to do so," Shunsui teased, making Keigo snicker at their interaction.

"Anyways, your interactions with the Kurosakis and Orihime-san were kept to a minimum because of her in the last year or so, correct?" Aizen said, a smile dancing on his lips.

"Pretty much. She got even odder around me after we broke up, no matter how mutual it was, "Keigo said, playing with a bit of his flipped up hair. "She didn't talk as much, was pretty guarded around me. By the way, that info I gave you has the latest entries to. I was able to get copies at the last study fest turned drinking contest at her place. She was passed out with Tatsuki and wasn't feeling any pain until the next morning."

"Again, thank you for the information," Aizen said, smirking at him, eyes dancing.

"Ahhh… would it be useable in court if you somehow need it?" Keigo asked, eyebrows furrowing together.

"Since it's coming from a third party, it qualifies as a tip and you are considered a confidential informant until trial, if it does go that far," Shunsui promised.

"That's good," Keigo sighed, sitting back and smiling.

"So, during the last year or so, did you see anyone hanging around the clinic that seemed out of place?" Aizen asked, leaning his head on his fist, elbow on the arm of his chair.

"Well, there was this one guy who had a really nice camera with him this one time," Keigo said slowly, almost musingly.

"You sound hesitant. Why?" Shunsui asked slowly, worried with the news.

"I don't remember his face, but then again, I saw him chatting with a really tall guy who looked like he wasn't from around here," Keigo admitted. "For that matter, I don't remember his face either. They were chatting outside, across the street as the shorter guy changed film out of his camera."

"I see. Thank you, Asano-san. I think that's all for now. Please, do not discuss what we talked about with anyone please," Aizen said. Standing up, he led Keigo out of the office and shook his hand before heading back to Shunsui. "They were stalked, and we have confirmation now," he sighed as he closed the door behind him.

"I'll call Byakuya-kun," Shunsui said, pulling out his phone and finding Byakuya's number. They left as Shunsui made the call, soon pulling up to the Kurosaki house and parking in the driveway. Aizen found himself blinking at finding a pouty Shinji pushing a lawn mower around the yard, cutting the rather long grass. Stepping out of his car, he shut the door behind him and walked over to him, gazing at him with laughing eyes.

"So, why are you out here?" he asked as Shinji stopped and leant against the mower.

"Because Ichigo wanted some alone time and took over the upstairs to get away from us. Sado and Gin are down in the basement, going through that giant ass freezer down there. Found the sucker nearly packed with food, so some of it is going to a few people that are around the neighborhood that could use them," he said, smirking and shrugging. "At the least we can feed everyone without worry about that for a bit of time.

"So I figured," Aizen drawled, shaking his head. Walking back to his car, he opened the back door and pulled out a backpack and camera case as another car pulled up behind him, Shunsui parking. "Come on, Shunsui-san, let's get this over with. I have a few things to do later," he called over to him, leading the way up to the front door, Shunsui following after him with his own bags and Shinji going back to mowing the lawn. Blinking as Gin opened the door and tilted his head to the side and brushed his hair back, he greeted him with a "Hello Gin-san."

"Hello, Aizen-san," Gin greeted, waving one hand as Sado came to stand behind him, nodding in greeting.

"Sado-san, I'm sure that Gin-san has told you what will be happening today," Aizen stated as he walked into the house with Shunsui padding after him.

"Yes, he has. Though, I do have to ask just why you're so interested in Orihime," Sado replied, walking with them into the kitchen where coffee waited. Aizen placed his cases down, smiling at Sado as he started to pull out the camera and its parts.

"I can answer that. As you know, Talents are rare compared to normal humans and range in abilities and strengths of those abilities," Aizen stated, setting up the camera on its tripod. Gin handed over an extension cord with a smile. "The Guardians don't only play as bodyguards, but as an investigative service and we offer training services to Talents who need it."

"And those that don't want it or already know how to use them?" Sado asked, pouring coffee into cups for them.

"Those who don't want the training or who know how to use their abilities aren't pushed. As long as they know that there are rules and laws in place that tell them what they can and can't do with their Talents and follow them. Those who have already broken the laws," Aizen said, taking his cup with a nod, "are charged after we have the needed information and proof to give the Specialty Units. We help them with that process. A kind of fight fire with fire situation."

"I see. So, what will happen with Orihime since she did use her Talent against me?" Sado asked as he made his own cup of coffee.

"Once I have the needed information, Byakuya-san will be able to charge her with misuse of her Talent, which is just below a full felony. At least the way she used it on you," Aizen told him, sitting down with his legal pads and cup behind the camera.

"At that time, someone from the Units will be able to take over and place her under arrest. They have specialized cuffs to stop her from using her abilities on anyone while she's in custody," Shunsui stated, smiling as he sat down next to Aizen. Sado nodded as he sat down across from them, coffee cup in hand as Gin smiled once more and slipped out to let them talk.

"So, what I need you to do is answer in full and with as much detail as you can. Only the needed details though, please," Aizen said, starting the camera. "Now, how did you meet the Kurosakis?"

"I met them when Ichigo brought me home after a very nasty fight where he saved me from being not only tied up but beaten by a gang of high school wannabe gangsters," Sado replied, playing with the medallion around his neck. "Kurosaki-san patched me up and Yuzu-san was kind enough to make me dinner along with Ichigo-chan. This was back in our last year of junior high school."

"What about Karin Kurosaki?" Aizen asked, already jotting notes down.

"I met her a few weeks after I meet everyone else. After that it was rare that I saw her until the last fourteen months or so. I started to help Yuzu-chan carry things when she was on her baking kick, giving her rides and hauling everything into the house. That sort of thing," he said, shrugging. "I didn't drive often and she didn't know how, so I helped."

"So, you've been around Yuzu-san at the least quite often in the last two years, yes?" Aizen asked, Sado nodding. "While you were around them, around Yuzu-san, did you ever see anything that was odd? Such as the way they acted or the people around them?"

"Not really. I thought I saw a guy with what looked to be light brown hair, almost a color of what you would call tanned. Its one memory that's fuzzy, but I don't believe that it was Orihime that messed with it. It feels different," Sado said, making Aizen look up, interested in that detail.

"How does the memory feel?" Shunsui asked, leaning forward, resting his elbow on the table and chin on his hand.

"It's actually very clear, but the faces are more blurs of colors instead of actual faces. The guy I saw, I can see the blur of his hair, icy blue around his eyes and slightly tanned skin. Outside of that, not a whole lot," Sado said, frowning as Aizen wrote down several notes.

"Alright. What was he doing? Did you see?" Shunsui asked.

"He was standing there, not doing anything but watching the house when I left with Yuzu-san for the store. A few hours later, once we got back, I didn't see him, but something told me that she could feel him," he replied, Aizen looking up with curiosity flaring brighter in his eyes.

"How so?" he asked. Sado took a drink of his coffee as he thought about that question, going over the memory.

"She got real jumpy as we drove to the store. But when we got there, she seemed to have calmed down, but she also bought a lot more then what she had originally planned," he said finally, putting his coffee cup down. "She said that she had a feeling that she would be cooking even more then usual on that day."

"We haven't heard about that detail," Shunsui said, sharing a look with Aizen. Seeing the curious look on Sado's face, he explained. "No one else that we've talked to told us that they could tell when their stalker, or at least one of them, was close."

"Ah, I see," Sado murmured, nodding his head at the two men.

"So, since we have this new information, shall we move onto Orihime?" Aizen inquired, getting a smile that was mostly hidden under the fall of chocolate bangs as Sado nodded. "How did you meet her?"

"We met her during the first day of our first year of high school actually. She had started to hang around several of the girls of our year the year before, along with Tatsuki-san, who has known Ichigo-chan from a young age," he told them, playing with his coffee cup again.

"So due to her friendship with Arisawa-san, she met Ichigo-san. What happened after that?" Leaning forward, Aizen narrowed his eyes in thought, mind whirling.

"It was about a month after that and three months before we met Keigo-kun and Mizuiro-kun, when she stared to act very… clingy when it came to Ichigo-chan. She acted well enough around people, but got very jealous around any female that so much as looked at her 'Kurosaki-san'," Sado snorted, shaking his head. "After Ichigo-chan's lifestyle came out, she refused to talk about him except to rant about him. She ended up harassing two of Ichigo-chan's ex-boyfriends as far as I know, but I refused to even listen about those."

"And you were found to be missing memories of the various times that you were going to get in contact with Ichigo-san, correct?" Shunsui asked.

"Yes, about six memories so far. There are about twenty memories that she messed with that I can tell. Gin has helped me with the smaller ones, which were minor crushes on a couple of males, reminded me of who I am and what I like," Sado mused. "And that's with about five days of finding and slowly fixing my memories."

"Do you think that she's used her ability on others?" Aizen asked, frowning heavily as he once more sat back.

"I have no doubt that she has at least a few times," Sado replied.

"I see. Thank you for the information, Sado-san. Please, call me or someone else in the Unit as the memories become clear," Aizen said, smiling at a robe clad Ichigo as he came padding in. Ichigo just smiled and nodded in return, Shinji poking his head around the corner to watch Ichigo walk with a leer on his face.


	12. Like a Bullet 11

Title: Like a Bullet

Fandom: Bleach

Part: 11

Characters: Many

Word Count: 2,929

AN: Finally, some movement in Shinji's and Ichigo's relationship. ;)

* * *

Staring at the newest letter that sat on his kitchen table, Ichigo crossed his legs and played with his cup of hot chocolate, thinking.

It had been over two weeks since the Guardians had started to watch over him and his close friends. Sado had moved into a new apartment and was working on avoiding Orihime, Gin still watching over him. In the last four days though, he had gotten around a total of 12 letters, 4 that they knew came from Orihime considering that they ranted about him and his choice of life styles. But it was the other eight letters that they couldn't figure out where they had come from. Aizen figured that they might have come from Kariya, dropped off by the spy bug.

A new letter had arrived with the mail that morning, the white envelope with typed words on the front of it sending Ichigo to the kitchen for the soothing hot chocolate he had stocked up on. Shinji was downstairs in the clinic while he went through files to send out letters to Isshins patients. Ichigo was trusting his friend not to fuck them over as he used the digital copy of his signature.

He was worried, nearly ready to cry from the letters that talked of stealing him away, of showing him the delight of the flesh. Of how no one else but Jin was good enough for him. They had even arrived at the shop when they had gathered for an employee meeting to discuss the possibility of opening a smaller shop where the clinic was. That had scared Ichigo enough to having all of the paper work sent to him, instead of him going there just so he could hole himself up for a bit as they worked out new plans.

Shinji had stuck close, going so far as to make sure that Ichigo knew how to shoot every gun that he had hidden around the house. Even with Ryuuken, Sado and Gin having gone to Sados apartment, they stayed in one bed at night, shades drawn to protect the both of them. He had also tended to stick very close to Shinji, both of them glad for the frozen food that Yuzu had left, meaning that they didn't have to worry about that for another week before they had to go get more sides and other needed items.

Sipping his hot chocolate, Ichigo mused that they would have to go sooner with the rate he was eating and drinking the comfort foods in the house. Picking up his spoon and stirring his cocoa once more, he stood up and headed downstairs, letter in hand to find Shinji. The need for some tactile comfort made him think of Shinji and the fact that he would provide it happily.

Pausing in the door way of what used to be his fathers clinic office, Ichigo watched Shinji typing on the computer before him, occasionally looking at a long list that his father had kept, making their job that much easier to do. He had a concentrated look on his face, his fingers quick and nimble on the keyboard, making Ichigo remember just how good Shinjis hands felt rubbing over his back or resting on his hips.

Smiling, Ichigo walked in and wrapped his arms around Shinjis neck, pressing a kiss to the top of his head. Shinji leant back, one hand coming up to rub at the arms around his neck, smiling at Ichigo as he took the letter from his fingers. He sighed and tossed it onto the desk as Ichigo moved back, allowing him to actually turn the chair around. Pulling Ichigo close, he buried his face into the stomach before him, arms wrapped around a small waist and hands cupping sweet hips.

"How are ya holding up?" Shinji asked against Ichigos stomach as he ran his fingers through blond locks. Ichigo sighed quietly, squeaking when Shinji tugged him down into his lap. "Talk with me, sweet thing."

"I don't know how I'm doing," Ichigo admitted quietly, continuing to play with Shinjis hair as he settled, straddling Shinjis legs and the chair. "I'm being stalked, my families' funeral is in two days, I have a business to run despite the fact that I'm not physically there and now the letters? I'm torn and stressed," he said, resting his forehead on Shinjis shoulder, the other man running his fingers through Ichigos low sitting ponytail.

"I'm not gonna let the bastard get to you. Hell, he thinks you're still a virgin," Shinji teased, smirking at the snort of laughter from the body in his lap.

"I haven't been a virgin since my very enjoyable 16th birthday night," Ichigo drawled, sitting straight with a smile. "I lucked out and had a lover who knew what he was doing and put my pleasure and learning before his own."

"Unlike me. Not that I regret it since it helped to kick start my powers," Shinji hummed, moving his arms to rest his hands on the swell of Ichigos ass, much to his enjoyment.

"Aww, but then you met that Nnoitra guy who taught you all about sex and how good it could be, on both sides," Ichigo hummed, smiling through the tears that were threatening to spill down from his cheeks.

"Ah, if only he was still living here, I would introduce ya to him," Shinji said, smirking. "To bad he moved to America."

"And why would you want to introduce me to him?" Ichigo asked, smoothing his fingers through blond hair once more.

"Because, as you said, he showed me the delights of sex. He was the only to turn me into a total and utter bottom slut before turning around and become the bottom boy, begging for cock, himself," Shinji purred, eyes trailing over Ichigo. His friend was wearing one of his shirts, looking rather delightful in the extra large shirt the fell around jean clad thighs. "He could make me cry for cock and then wanted to use what I had experienced on him."

"What a way to learn," Ichigo teased, yelping when Shinji squeezed his ass. Giving into the urge, he leant forward and brushed his lips over his companions, feeling him growl, the vibrations making his lips tingle. Shinji shifted and dug his fingers into soft hair, pulling Ichigo into a deeper kiss. Their lips shifted and slid together before he slowly lapped at the full lips that he wanted to taste.

Ichigo moaned, wrapping his arms tight around Shinjis neck, pressing close as he tilted his head a bit to the side, sucking on the questing tongue. Shinji groaned in return and tightened his hands on his partners' hip, his own arching up to rub them together. The soft moan the move got sent flickers of heat through the blond along with the pleasure of rubbing against Ichigo, making him grow hard in response to the growing hardness that he felt with each rub. Ichigo clung to his companion, eyes close as he moaned and panted into the kiss.

Pulling away from the drugging kiss, Ichigo let his head fall back, lips red, swollen, and his eyes closed, rolling his hips in time with Shinjis movements, gasping lowly. Shinji watched with avid interest, fingers digging into lean hips as they both lost themselves to the pleasure. Rubbing and pressing, it wasn't long before Ichigo was growling and shuddering, his come making a sticky mess in his jeans as he ground down into Shinjis hips, making him follow after. His hips pressed upwards as he sank his teeth into Ichigos neck, drowning out a ragged moan.

The two collapsed back into the chair, panting and basking in the sudden heavy petting session and its conclusion. Ichigo hummed and sat up after a few minutes, blushing lightly at Shinjis smug look on his face. Reaching up, he smoothed a hand over one flushed cheek, his eyes soft.

"I think… I want something serious with you if you still want it," he said finally, clinging to Shinji when he swung him up into his arms and out of the chair, twirling them around.

"I have been waiting to hear that since I met you and asked you out on that first date," Shinji stated as he put Ichigo down. "So, yes, I want to date you. For now, let me take care of you, protect you. You just do what you must do. Meaning you mourn for your family and run your business. I will take care of everything else," he promised quietly, leaning down and brushing his lips against Ichigos as he smoothed his thumbs over soft cheeks.

"Thank you, Shinji-kun," Ichigo sighed, eyes half lidded. "For now, we both need to clean up. I'm already starting to feel really sticky."

"Sounds like a good idea," Shinji said, leering at Ichigo, pouting when he just rolled his eyes and shoved at his head.

"You can use the master bath. No nookie. At least not yet," he drawled, getting a whine from Shinji as they headed up the stairs.

Across town, as the two took quick showers and went back to their work, Aizen was sitting in his car, shifting through the papers in his bag.

Having finished his research and gone over every single interview with a fine tone comb, Aizen felt that he was as ready as he ever could be to meet with Orihime Inoue and walk out with his memories intact.

Taking a deep, slow breath, he slid out of his car and gathered everything together and headed up the stairs towards the apartment he wanted. Knocking on the door, he waited for her to answer, mind going over the questions that he planned to ask her. He also wondered if she would ask about Shunsui, not doubting for a moment that Tatsuki would have talked to her at sometime during the last week.

"Hello, you must be Aizen-san," came a bright chipper voice from the door way, drawing Aizens eyes down to her. Smiling, he nodded his head as he shifted his bag on his shoulder.

"Yes, I am. Thank you for taking the time to talk with me," he said, shaking her hand, her gray eyes sparkling brightly. Something made his hackles rise, making him work on keeping his face and eyes pleasant.

"Please, come in," she said, stepping away from the door, letting Aizen into the apartment. "Would you like some tea? I was just about to make some."

"That would be nice, thank you. Can you show me the living room so I can set up the camera for the interview?" he asked curiously, holding up his bag. Orihime beamed and nodded, leading the way to the living room before leaving him behind to head into the kitchen, doing just what he wanted: being left alone so he could set up everything. Pulling out his camera, he quickly set it up, making sure that it was sending to the Shunsui who was down the road with a lap top.

He would have to thank Szayel for setting up the very system that they were using, keeping everything legal and useable, despite the fact that it fell into a gray area of the law.

"_I can see everything, including you_," Shunsui stated, Aizen reaching up to adjust his ear bud. "_Is it me, or is Orihimes shirt really low_?" Looking up as he plugged in the cameras power cord, Aizens eyebrows shot upwards, hiding under his bangs. It almost looked as if Orihime had taken her shirt and cut off the collar of it, exposing more cleavage then he thought necessary.

"The tea is ready, yes?" he asked, keeping his voice even and pleasant. She nodded and held up a tray that was laden down with a full tea service on it. Leaning over, she placed it down and flashing even more cleavage, causing Aizen to wonder what she was doing or thinking. "So, shall we start?" Aizen asked, sitting so that the camera would catch the both of them.

"Yes, please," Orihime said, sitting down as she poured the tea, once more flashing Aizen and Shunsui who was muttering about going completely gay with every flash of skin and bra. "You wished to talk about Isshin-san and his daughters, correct?" she asked sweetly, smiling brightly.

"Yes, I wished to talk about the Kurosakis," Aizen hummed, frowning slightly as he pulled his note pad and pen out. Making a note, he barely felt a brush against his mental shields, deciding to ignore it since it didn't try to get past them. "How did you meet the Kurosakis?" he asked, not surprised at the flash of anger that passed through gray eyes as she flipped her hair over one shoulder.

"I meet them through Ichigo Kurosaki, before it came out that he was gay and living as a girl," she stated, nearly sneering the word gay but keeping it sounding as such.

"_She really doesn't like Ichigo-san, does she_?" Shunsui mused, making Aizen smirk and look down to hide it.

"So, you, like the others, met the Kurosakis through Ichigo-san, right?" he asked, Orihime nodding her head. "Were you friends with Yuzu-san and Karin-san?" he continued, frowning as his eyes blurred, shaking it off quickly.

"_Watch it, her eyes are flashing and in not a good way_," came Shunsuis warning, the tone worried. Nodding his head barely, Aizen quickly ran over his mental shields as Orihime took a moment to sip her tea, strengthening them. He also put up an extra layer just to be safe.

"Not so much. They were always doing this or that. Yuzu-san was taking care of her family members, doing chores and cooking, that sort of thing. Karin-san was working on her sports most of the time. When they weren't doing that, they were working in the back as nurses or something," Orihime said, frowning at something. "They were much too young to be doing such a job anyway. I tried to tell Isshin-san but he waved it off, telling me that they were fine and it was good training."

"Did you speak often with Kurosaki-san about your concerns? I heard that you were working as his receptionist for a bit of time," Aizen said, smiling at her, trying to loosen Orihimes tongue enough to slip up and say something.

"He trusted me enough to take my observations and use them to run his business better while I worked for him," she chirped happily. "I made sure that he was kept on tack and working properly while in the clinic and helped around the house when I wasn't working."

"_What was she trying to do? Insinuate herself into his life so firmly that she resembled a barnacle_?" Shunsui asked in his ear. "_Ask her about her personal relationship with Kurosaki-san_."

"What exactly was your relationship with Kurosaki-san?" Aizen asked, firming his mental shields again at a new brush against them. Orihime blushed sweetly, one hand coming up to cup her cheek and the other resting on the swell of her breast, long fingers drawing attention to her cleavage once more.

"Well, we didn't sleep with each other, but we were very close to each other. We often talked with each other, telling our secrets and plans for the future," she hummed happily.

"I see," Aizen drawled, writing down the information as Shunsui laughed in his ear, making him twitch at the sound. "Alright, so did you see anything odd during the last year or so?" he asked. She hummed in thought and tapped one finger on her bottom lip before shrugging.

"Yuzu-san was baking a lot, using a lot of money to do it and Karin-san was destroying her soccer balls rather quickly," she finally said, Aizen writing that down as his mind swirled.

"_She seems to be trying to destroy the girls' reputation, isn't she_?" Shunsui asked. "_At least without looking as if she's doing it_."

"Did you see anyone that wasn't supposed to be there?" Aizen asked, watching the young woman before him shrug.

"I don't really remember. I never really saw anyone outside of Isshin-sans patients and Mizuiro-kun," she said. Smiling, Aizen nodded and put his note pad away as he stood.

"Well, I believe that's all I need to know at the moment, Orihime-san," he drawled. Stopping the camera, he placed the tape into its case before tucking it away into his pocket. Orihime bounced up from her seat, chest bouncing with her movements as she clasped her hands together. Aizen ignored how her chest was pressed upwards, straining at the top. "If you have any information, please call the office. And if no one answers, just leave a message and some one either from the Guardians or the Specialty Homicide Unit will call you back."

"Of course," she chirped, taking the card that he held out. Watching as Aizen gathered his things, she took a moment to admire the strong body and the easy grace which the man moved with. Showing him out and closing the door behind him, she bit her lip and moaned before moving away from the door to spend some alone time.

Outside of the apartment, Aizen was quick to leave, shoving his bags into the back seat, feeling the headache form from keeping his shields up and so strong for so long.

"Remind me never to be alone with her ever again," he stated, Shunsui snorting in agreement.

"_You and me both my friend, you and me both_," Shunsui drawled.


	13. Like a Bullet 12

Title: Like a Bullet

Fandom: Bleach

Chapter: 12

Characters: various, seriously

Word count: 2,869

AN: Another chapter…another week to wait for the next one. :3

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Sliding his phone closed, Byakuya stared at the group before him and sighed lowly. "The Guardians will be here for today's debriefing. Apparently Aizen has some new information and some concerns about a few things," he said, his unit all gazing at him with varying degrees of curiosity. "The people that they are watching over will also be coming over, but they won't be a part of the meeting."

"Where are we gonna be sticking them?" Shunsui asked. Byakuya smiled at him and leant a hip against the table as he looked to his friend and old mentor.

"They'll do fine in one of our conference rooms, no doubt," Byakuya stated. "They should arrive in a few minutes. Renji-san will be showing them up to here." A knock on the door drew the groups' attention, Renji opening the door and showing the Guardians into the meeting room, Shinji pouting unhappily.

"Shinji-san, will you please stop pouting at the fact that you have to leave your boyfriends side for two minutes?" Yumichika was drawling, Shinji going from pouting to outright glaring at the other male.

"But I don't wanna let go of my Ichi-chan. I just got him for good yesterday," he whined, the Specialty Unit blinking at that bit of news.

"Excuse me, but what happened?" Kira asked, his eyes wide as he looked over the group. The others wondered the same thing.

"Shinji-san here has finally landed Ichigo-san as his boyfriend after nearly two years of trying," Aizen drawled as he moved to sit down at the conference table, placing a couple of DVDs and a thick file down onto it. "For the last twenty four hours, he's been following Ichigo-san around like a puppy dog."

"Shut up, Aizen-san," Shinji huffed, flopping into a chair. "Everyone else is in the other conference room but I'm still not real delighted with that fact."

"He's safe here, so stop worrying so much," Renji snickered, sitting down as the rest of the Guardians found their own seats.

"I'm going to make sure you can't get it up here soon," Shinji threatened as Byakuya snorted lowly.

"Please don't. I do need him to be able to get it up," he stated, Renji giving him a long look as one tattooed eyebrow rose upwards. "Now, Aizen-san, you have finished your interviews and your report yes?" he asked turning their conversation to business.

"Yes. Let us go over the Kurosakis first, since it seems as if there is any real new information about them," Aizen said, opening his file before him before sliding over one of the DVDs to him, Byakuya picking it up and gazing at it. "The interviews for your records."

"Thank you," Byakuya said, placing it on top of his own file as Aizen handed the second DVD over to Renji, who loaded it and put the files on there up onto the conference room screen.

"Anyways, they did obviously know that they were being stalked and reacted in some interesting ways. Karin-san destroyed soccer balls, and as we found out, kept several journals and writing unsent letters to Ichigo-san. Yuzu-san created a small baking business and she too kept a journal with the occasional letter," Aizen said, reading off of the top page of his notes. "The journals also gave us an insight into their mind set at the time. Kurosaki-sans mind set was a little different then his daughters. His main concern was his children, including Ichigo-san. His journals offer hints into what he did see, and occasionally what he knew. He also wrote letters to his son, adding more information to the profile," he continued.

"So, did they see whoever was stalking them?" Hitsugaya asked, looking over the top of his lap top.

"No. They knew that they were being watched but they never saw who," Gin replied, having read a few of the entries himself.

"Sado-san did see them. After he had started to meditate and recover some of his hidden memories that are connected to Orihime Inoue, he was able to see some details," Aizen continued. "From what he found out, our young spy that works for Kariya, is Cain. He apparently reminds Sado-san of Ichigo-sans coloring with his skin tone. All he can remember is blurs of colors though, but we do believe that Cain has brown hair and blue eyes."

"Well, now we have more information on him, which is good," Rangiku chirped, taking down detailed notes.

"Yes, it is. You said that Sado-san lost some memories?" Byakuya asked, Aizen holding up one hand.

"We'll get to that in a moment. Let me finish with the Kurosakis," he said, Byakuya nodding his head in agreement. "To continue on, it looks as if they had been watched for a little over a year. Also, we think that the Bounts knew about Ichigo-san from the very start but they kept the actual watching of him loose, only checking up on him from what the letters we found said. Isshin-san kept it hidden away in a lock box and the only reason why we did find it was because Ichigo-san remembered it late last night as he packed up what Isshin-san had left behind."

"I suppose we got lucky that it was found when it was," Hitsugaya stated, getting agreeing nods.

"I've also discovered just why the saliva that we found has no useable DNA," Szayel stated, pushing his glasses up his nose.

"How did you find out?" Renji asked, leaning forward to gaze at him, the others staring at Szayel.

"Quite by accident actually. I was experimenting with saliva samples that come from those without Talents and those with various strength Talents," Szayel explained, leaning back as he flicked one hand. "I discovered that the stronger your Talent, the faster any DNA left behind disappears. Since the Bounts are amazingly strong in their Talents, I calculated that their DNA strands die in about half an hour to an hour after leaving their body."

"So that's why we can never find any after the fact," Byakuya mused, frowning at that. "Though why does it rarely read as saliva?"

"Because, without DNA, saliva is just really thick water with a few chemical tweaks," was the explanation from him as he handed out his report on that.

"So, shall we move onto Orihime?" Byakuya asked, getting a smirk from Aizen.

"Yes, we shall. In the course of speaking with those who were in contact with the Kurosakis and Ichigo-san, one name kept popping up along with some disturbing information," Aizen said, flipping through his pages. "That name was obviously Orihime Inoue and the information that I found paints a very odd picture. One the surface, she's a very sweet young woman who is going to school and is working part time. Her parents died when she and her brother were young, her brother dying when she was age 15. She became emancipated after that and soon met Ichigo-san and his other friends, along with Arisawa-san."

"To summarize, she's a seemingly normal child on paper and in public," Renji said, Aizen nodding as he shuffled a few pieces of paper.

"That's I right. Now, from what I have been able to figure out, she has a very dangerous Talent that almost got me if not for my mental shields and Shunsui-san," Aizen said, frowning at how close he had come to losing vital memories to the case. "She is much like Kariya but where as his is facial, hers are to any memory. She can target specific memories, the full memory and anything connected to that memory."

"Damn," Ikkaku breathed, eyes wide as he stared at his boss.

"Indeed. She used it on Sado-san any time he came close to contacting Ichigo-san," Aizen stated. "We need to get a warrant to get into her apartment and computers. Keigo-san provided us with copies of her date book, where she keeps detailed accounts of her day and her personal diary. The diary was encrypted, but he also gave us the key to is, so we are nearly done with that. We'll find out more about her mental state there."

"Don't forget to tell them about what happened when you went to interview her," Shunsui drawled, getting a smirk from the others.

"Ah, yes. She suddenly lost part of her shirt between the front door and the kitchen. She then proceeded to do anything possible outside of flashing me outright to rouse my libido. Unfortunately for her, I prefer my woman to be lighter chest wise, but mostly males tease my libido," Aizen drawled, causing most of the people around him to laugh, the cooler of the two groups just rolling their eyes and continuing to hash out the new details.

In the other room, after Renji had left them, Ichigo smirked at Shuuhei, who in return just gave him a long look, daring him to say anything as the others watched with smirks on their lips.

"So, Shuuhei-kun, how's living with Kensei-san been treating you?" Ichigo asked sweetly, Shuuhei snorting a bit as he eyed his friend.

"It's going well," he replied, sitting back in his seat as he watched Ichigos' smirk widen.

"So, what was that leer that Kensei-san sent you when we were coming over too the conference room?" was the question, coming from Hanatoru, who was perched on Ryuukens lap. Shuuhei just moaned and shook his head. "We found them making out yesterday after Shuuhei-kuns shift. They were damn near swallowing each others tongues."

"Oh, naughty, naughty, Shuuhei-kun" Ichigo sang, watching his friend blush. The group laughed at the sight, Sados a rumbling that drew his attention. "Sado-kun, how has things been going with you?" he asked curiously.

"Gin-san has been helping me with my memories and building strong mental shields to keep Orihime out of my memories," Sado replied, gazing at his smaller friend.

"What do you mean by that?" Uryuu asked curiously, eyes wide behind his glasses.

"Ah, that's right, I haven't been able to tell you guys about what has been going on lately. We've all been so busy with everything," Ichigo said, eyes wide in surprise. "Anyways, it has been discovered that one Orihime Inoue has a Talent and a very dangerous one at that. She can mess with your memories, sort of locking them away or just changing them outright. She used it on Sado-kun here anytime he found my contact information to apologize to me," he explained, getting worried expressions.

"So that's why our bodyguards have been pushing us to meditate. Yumichika-san and Ikkaku-san have been pushing for it, saying that the reason wasn't for them to tell," Ryuuken drawled, stroking a hand over Hanatorus flank. Hanatoru wiggled and tried to smack the wandering hand away from his leg. "Have your guards been doing the same?" he asked, smirking as his lover shifted on his lap again.

"Kensei asked, but was rather pleased when I told him that I already meditate to clear my mind every night," Shuuhei replied, smirking as Hanatoru threatened to make Ryuuken sleep on the couch if he kept up his antics.

"Starrk-san got me into it," Uryuu said, waving a water bottle at the group. "What about you, Tessai-san?" he asked.

"Aizen-san called me and warned me that we were being asked to meditate due to some new information. He told me to call him should I find anything out of place," Tessai replied, tipping his head to his smaller co-worker.

"And you, Ichi-chan?" Hanatoru asked, getting a smile as he shrugged.

"Gin showed me how to do that while he and Sado-kun were hanging around the house," he said, leaning back in his chair. "It's been very helpful in helping me keep my sanity."

"You mean outside of Shinji-san?" Ryuuken teased, smirking as his godson blushed brightly and smoothed his hair down.

"We only got together yesterday," Ichigo huffed, pouting at the laughter that came from his friends.

"Yes, but the poor man has been waiting for this for the last year and a half," Ryuuken teased his godson, smiling softly at the younger man. It had been a while since the young man had been so open and comfortable around his friends. And to see Ichigo so relaxed was a wonderful sight for him, making some of the worry Ryuuken had carried around for him loosen and dissipate.

"I know, but it was worth the wait, for both of us," Ichigo hummed, smiling softly as his friends. Hanatoru leant forward at the glow that seemed to envelope Ichigo; it almost reminded him of when he was with his own boyfriend and lover.

"Aww, you're glowing," he cooed, eyes glowing with his own happiness as Ichigo blushed, startled by the cooing from his friend.

"What do you mean glowing?" Tessai asked, gazing at his young employer before sitting up straight, smiling at Ichigo.

"You are indeed glowing," Shuuhei drawled, Ichigo blinking at him before smiling once more.

"I suppose being with Shinji-kun makes me happier then I thought it would," he said. "I'm actually relaxed for once, able to enjoy dating someone without worrying that all they want is to say that they fucked a cross dresser or a pretty boy," Ichigo mused, rubbing at his bottom lip, eyes soft with his thoughts.

"I'm glad that you have someone after all of this time. It just bites that it had to come at such a time," Hanatoru sighed, shaking his head with a frown. "I just hope that all of this is fixed soon. I'm worried about how this will end up playing out."

"I have a feeling that Byakuya-san and Aizen-san, along with their people, won't allow anything to happen to any of us if they can help it. Gin-san has been hiding quite a few weapons around my home, along with my car. He's even gotten me permission to carry around the butterfly knife that Ichi-chan got me for my last birthday, when we were still talking," Sado stated, making Ichigo blink up at him.

"You kept it?" he asked, Sado nodding with a smile on his lips.

"It's a wonderful knife that was well made and came from a dear friend. Of course I kept it," Sado replied lowly, Ichigo reaching over and hugging him tightly, getting it returned. Sitting back, they gazed at the others.

"Ikkaku-san and Yumichika-san have been drilling us in our hand to hand skills and working with Hanatoru-kun on his knife and katana abilities," Ryuuken said.

"They found my sharp and pointy collection when they did a walk through of our homes. Asked me if I knew how to use them and when I said I did, they started to make sure that I wasn't rusty and up to date. It's been a long four days," Hanatoru drawled, wiggling his fingers.

"Sounds like it," Shuuhei said, shaking his head. "Kensei-san has talked about what I know in the way of self defense."

"Did you try to down play what you know?" Tessai asked, causing him to blush and nod. "And how did Kensei-san take that?" he continued, Shuuhei nearly pouting.

"He gave me this '_I know you're lying so stop'_ look. So I showed him my belts and my own weapons collection. Sado-san isn't the only one who has permission to carry a butterfly knife," he admitted, pulling out his own knife. It was simple, the handle a dark blue color and looking a bit dull with age. Sticking it away, Shuuhei shrugged with a smile.

"I've pulled out my guns and placed them around the house. I now have a gun permit for a smaller caliber hidden gun," Tessai stated when they all looked at him in curiosity. "I've also changed out the usual bats at the store for aluminum bats instead of the wooden ones. They're all in the usual spots, plus a few extras scattered in the various hidey holes," he told the others, getting nods.

"Thank you, Tessai-kun. I'm hoping to be able to actually come into work a couple of times a week starting over the weekend," Ichigo said, getting slight smiles at that.

"What has Shinji-kun been teaching you, beyond how good sex can be?" Shuuhei asked teasingly.

"Shuuhei-kun, I've known just how good sex can be since I was 16," Ichigo snorted, getting a bark of laughter from the older male.

"So, what has he been working with you on?" Shuuhei finally asked again around his snickers.

"Guns. 9 MM, 45's, even a couple of shot guns. Any gun that can be held easily really," Ichigo said, shrugging one shoulder. "I am now the proud owner of a lady pistol," he said, patting his purse that sat on one hip. "It's a very pretty gun with such a big kick."

"I've fired them before," Hanatoru hummed, nodding his head with a smile. "They do have a kick despite their small size. Sometimes big bangs come in small packages," he said, everyone at the table staring at him with wide eyes.

"Tiny Hana made a dirty joke," Ichigo said lowly, mouth hanging open. "A very, very dirty joke."

"Oh yeah. He's so bad," Shuuhei replied, voice surprised as he shook his head.


	14. Like a Bullet 14

Title: Like a Bullet

Chapter: 14

Fandom: Bleach

Characters: Bounts

Word count:

AN: Ahh, things are coming to a head now. 3 *cackles*

* * *

Smirking, Jin watched as his people filtered in, one by one, Koga already sitting next to him and looking bored with it all. It was the first time in nearly six months that they had all gathered together and he was looking forward to the meeting if for nothing more then the arguments that were bound to happen.

Yoshino Soma, who was the researcher and rival to Jin, was the first to arrive, her brown hair looking wind ruffled as she tried to smooth it back down into its usually parted style. Her bracelet rattled on her wrist, making a twinkling sound fill the room. Jin rather liked her, her powers being centered around sound waves. With her bracelet and occasionally the rings she wore, she could create sound that could burst a persons ear drums or could even silence them if she wanted it to. Her Talent was often used for various jobs.

The next to appear were the mind twisting Twins, Ho and Ban. Their rather interesting Talents could actually be combined, making them formidable foes against any who went up against them. Ho was able to twist a persons' vision while Ban twisted their minds into believing what the twins wanted them to see. Though they were paternal twins, Ho had shorter, lighter brown hair while his brother had longer hair that was a few shades darker due to the fact that Ban tended to stay away from most light.

An unfortunate accident had left his eyes with a very nasty sensitivity to very bright or harsh light.

Ugaki followed after the twins, dark brown hair neatly parted and suit pressed, showing why he was known as The Professor away from the Bounts. Not even the Homicide Specialty Unit knew of his true name and Jin wanted to keep it that way for as long as possible.

His Talent was hardly one that could be considered offensive seeing as he could read minds but couldn't project anything into them. But that combined with his degree in human psychology made him a very dangerous opponent if he was able to find a weakness in your mind. Once he found that weakness, he would exploit it until he could get you to falter enough for him to use his combat skills on you. Either that or his knife.

Mabashi walked in with Yoshi, smirking lightly as he fixed his chaotically balanced hair. The orange-red locks were neatly trimmed on one half of his head, while the other half was long and messy, showing off his Talent in an interesting way. He was one of only a few dual Talents that worked side by side. Not only could he control a person to do what he wanted them to do but he could absorb their Talents for a very short time. Jin rather enjoyed the chaotic male, unlike his feelings for his partner, Yoshi.

She was a tall female with a vipers' attitude, often getting a low growl from their leader. She kept her hair long, trying to attract Jin in some way, but still put off her fellow Bounts with her attitude towards them. She had a very special Talent, one that came from being a second generation Talent. Where her mother could speed read, remember and then put that information to instant use, all Yoshi had to do was touch a book. She often used her Talent to learn anything she could about fighting; and lately, seduction, hoping for the chance to use it on Jin.

The man sneered at the thought of bedding her.

Ryo Utagawa walked in next, sitting down next to his lover Mabashi, petting the snake that rested around his neck. The man had short brown hair that flared upwards at the end and was well known for the trim goatee that he often smoothed down when deep in thought. He was their poison expert, creating new ones from various mixes of plants, animal blood and snake venom. He also used a whip to focus his electricity Talent, making him a very deadly opponent in all aspects.

Cain walked in, snickering lowly, with his teacher Sawatari. The young man reminded Kariya quite a bit of Ichigo, even though the young spy was colored much differently than the red head. With brown hair that he kept short and icy blue eyes, he was cute, every inch the young American that he was. His ability was more on the technological side, being able to pick up every device out there and know how to use it to its full advantage, take it apart and put it back together again, and in some cases, rebuild it even better.

Sawatari had a Talent much like Cains, but on a lesser scale. He could pick up a device and know how to use it to its best potential, but he couldn't put them together, much less take them apart. But Jin supposed that is what happened when you had a first generation techonpath and his child from a one night stand.

Sawatari, despite his elder looks, had once looked much like his son, but had been blond.

"Thank you, everyone, for coming so quickly," Jin said, smiling at the others, eyes glowing as he moved around the table as the group relaxed.

"So, tell us, Jin, why we were called in so suddenly," Yoshi asked, smirking as she sat back in her chair. He idly noticed that she was wearing a low cut tank top and a pair of jeans that seemed painted on. He quickly decided that such an outfit would look better on Ichigo.

"The Kurosaki job actually," Jin stated, smiling pleasantly, ruffling Cains' hair as he walked past. Blue eyes glared playfully up at the man.

"I have to ask: why we didn't get rid of the oldest brat?" Yoshi asked, lips pulling into a frown as her eyes flashed with her displeasure. Jin sat down at the head of the table, lacing his fingers together as he gazed at her.

"Let me guess, the young Kurosaki is someone special," Sawatari mused, dark eyes boring into his leader.

"You would be right, my friend," Jin drawled, sitting back with a smile. "Somehow, the fact that he's a second generation Talent at least has escaped some very important peoples' attention. His is a hypnotizing Talent and even with it being untrained, if not still sleeping, it has the potential of being very powerful, very dangerous for any one on the wrong side of it. It's just a matter of getting it to come out and training it."

"Sounds promising. Is that why we didn't go after him?" Yoshino asked, cocking an eyebrow as she played with one bracelet.

"To be truthful, not at first. He wasn't all that connected to his family and there was very little information about him. As we did the job, I figured that he would make an interesting pet for a time," Jin hummed, smirking at the interested expressions on his groups face. When they had a pet, they all had access to the poor fool for whatever they wanted. "But then as I learned about Ichigo Kurosaki, I found out about his Talent and decided that he would be better as a new Bount."

"What?" Yoshi snarled, Jin gazing at her as she shoved herself out of her chair.

"Sit down, Yoshi," Ban snapped, fed up with her attitude.

"With that much power, he's of more use sane and not a pet then insane and a pet," Ho stated, eyes glittering.

"Correct, Ho," Jin drawled, eyes glittering with Hos. "Cain is watching Ichigo for the most part, occasionally watching over the others to feel out if we must worry about them. Unfortunately for us, Yoshi here got a bit on the biting side and left saliva, connecting us to the murders firmly in Kukichis mind, so we're a bit screwed."

"How so?" Mabashi asked, playing with the long locks of his hair as Yoshi snarled and sat back into her seat.

"The Unit has called in The Guardians, and Ichigo and his friends are being watched over very closely. All of them but one, Tessai, are being guarded and prepared for what ever they can. I fear that Aizen had taken a strong interest in our dear future Bount and will try to poison his mind before we are even able to get to him," Jin stated, shaking his head with a heavy frown on his face.

"So, what are we gonna do?" Cain asked, playing with his camera as he looked at the man he nearly hero worshiped. Jin had found him after his father had discovered that he was alive, saving him from his overly religious mother who had thought he was demons spawn due to his Talent.

"It looks as if we're going to have to move up my plans. We must get a hold of the girl named Orihime Inoue. She has a Talent for erasing or suppressing memories," Jin said.

"Why do we need the woman?" Ugaki asked, leaning forward, his eyes contemplative as Jin turned to gaze at him in return.

"We need her to help erase Ichigos past and any poison that Aizen will and has put into his mind. She should be useful for a few jobs, possibly erasing a few memories about us in the Guardians and the Units minds after some training," Jin explained. "For the moment, we'll let Ichigo say goodbye to his family and continue working on his families' estate. After that, we'll have to take him away from the blond whore who watches over him now. Remember that Ichigo is not to be harmed in any way," he said, glaring at everyone before they settled in to talk about the plans in more detail.


	15. Like a Bullet 15

Title: Like a Bullet

Fandom: Bleach

Chapter: 15

Characters: Many, Shinji, Ichigo

Word count: 1,632

AN: Time for Funeral

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Fixing the underwear he had on, making sure that he was settled in them comfortably, Ichigo blushed under Shinjis intense stare from the bed. He had already gotten dressed in his funeral kimono and had taken to watching Ichigo as he got ready for the day. The younger of the two had taken a quick shower before Shinji had enjoyed the after show of him in a towel as he spread lotion over his skin.

"Enjoying yourself?" Ichigo asked curiously as pulled on the under layer of his kimono, smoothing the fabric down as Shinji stood from the bed and picked up the outer layer of the dark blue kimono. Helping Ichigo into the top layer of his kimono, he helped him smooth out that layer. Wrapping the obi around his waist, Ichigo soon had his kimono settled on his body, his boyfriend just smiling at him.

"Yes, I enjoyed that completely," Shinji finally answered, making Ichigo snort and shake his head. "So, we are meeting everyone at the grave yard?" he asked as Ichigo checked the bun that sat tightly on top of his head.

"Yep. Jyuushiro-san said that everyone beyond you will be there and on high alert," Ichigo replied, adding a bit of clear banana flavored lip gloss.

Shinji noticed that his lover hadn't put any of his usual makeup on, the baby blue eyeliner and bronzing power sitting untouched on the desk. The blond had to admit that the slightly paler skin looked better on Ichigos face, his eyes looking more golden then their usual chocolate brown.

"You look good without the bronzing powder on your skin, lover," Shinji hummed as Ichigo slipped on his shoes. "Why do you use it?"

"Because I'm as pale as I am, despite the amount of sun I get," Ichigo admitted with a smile. "Come on. I want to be in my seat when everyone comes around. I don't' want to burst into tears the moment they get there, much less when they start to talk with me," he continued, picking up the small purse that sat on his hip, concealed by his obi sash and the bow on the back.

"Yeah, let's head on out, Ichi-chan," Shinji agreed, making sure that his own weapons were hidden away on his body. Grabbing his keys, he led his companion down the stairs and out the door, opening the car door for Ichigo.

Once they were on their way, Ichigo smoothed his hands down his arms, eyes glazed over as he fought with the tears that were starting to threaten to spill down over his cheeks. Shinji reached over and laced their fingers together, offering his own strength to him.

Pulling up to the graveyard, Ichigo wiped at his eyes with a tissue, tucking it back into his purse with his gun as Shinji parked. He stepped out of the car and moved around to the passenger side door. Looking around, the two headed into the funeral home, Ichigo nodding his head to the director. Being shown where the closed coffins were set up, Ichigo sat down on his seat and took a long, deep breath to balance himself as he closed his eyes, Shinji sitting next to him and once more lacing their fingers together.

"You gonna be okay?" Shinji asked quietly, running his thumb over the top of Ichigos knuckles, eyes worried as he opened his eyes and gazed at him.

"I'll be fine, I promise. It's just harder then I thought it would be, that's all," Ichigo sighed, shaking his head as he once more pulled out his tissue, wiping at his eyes again. "Knowing that they're in those coffins, hidden away from the world, never to see the sun or the stars or the moon…this just kind of drives things home for me I guess you could say."

"Don't worry. We'll figure out why they want you so badly and then we'll stop them. Or stop them and then find out why. Until then, I'm not letting you out of my sight," Shinji promised, stroking Ichigos cheek with a smile. "Just trust me to be the strong one and you mourn those you've lost."

"I already do trust you. Thank you, Shinji," Ichigo sighed, leaning into the touch with a sound of pleasure. "I don't think I would have made it so well through this without you," he teased and got a low laugh from his lover and bodyguard.

"Nah, you would have been just fine without me," Shinji said in return, Ichigo snorting and pushing at his shoulder. "Come on, let's say goodbye to them one last time and take up our seats." Ichigo took a slow, deep breath and nodded his head, closing his eyes once more in an attempt at not crying. Standing up, the two moved to the coffins, Ichigo clinging to Shinji as the man nodded his head to the assistant director who hovered near by.

The young man lifted the lids of the three coffins before stepping back, allowing Ichigo to walk up and brush his fingers over his fathers pale cheek. The tears that he had been holding back escaped, sliding down paling skin as he stroked the man he had called father's cheek.

"Do you think... he knew that he was going to die?" he asked quietly as his fingers smoothed down the beard a bit.

"I think that he was more worried about you and your sisters if anything," Shinji replied, stepping up behind Ichigo and wrapping his arms around the lean waist. "He was a father, and no matter the past between you two, he still worried and wondered about his children as his letters and notes showed us," he said, lips brushing the curve of one ear. Moving to the next coffin, they gazed down at Karin, Ichigo fussing with her hair just slightly.

"I'm surprised that Karin hasn't come back in some way to kick my ass for putting her in such a girlish kimono," Ichigo said sadly, fingers sliding over baby blue fabric before the couple moved onto the final coffin with Yuzu in it.

"You're right, she looked a lot like your mother," Shinji said, reaching out to tuck a bit of blond hair back into place as Ichigo tucked a barrette into her hands. It was a small wooden piece that had been more display object then usable, but his sweet sister had loved it with all of her heart.

"Yeah, I was the only one that balanced our parents' looks while Karin took after Dad and Yuzu took after mom," Ichigo hummed, shaking his head with a smile on his lips that looked sad. Shinji squeezed his arms around his lovers' waist, nuzzling the softly scented neck, comforting in his own way.

"They're arriving," the assistant said, appearing with a sympathetic smile. "I need to close the coffins now."

"Of course," Shinji said, nodding his head as they moved out of the way. Making sure that Ichigo was comfortable in his seat, he took his own. His hand rested so that he could grab his gun at any time, his other hand laced with Ichigos as they watched as the first of the people arrived. Orihime walked in with Tatsuki, Keigo and Mizuiro, all of them in funeral kimonos, all of them looking somber.

"Ichigo-san," Tatsuki greeted, eying the two males with wary eyes. Ichigo nodded at her, eyes sliding over the other three as Orihime scowled, Keigo smiling slightly and Mizuiro gave him a comforting look of his own.

"Thank you for coming. They would have been glad you came," Ichigo said lowly. Nodding, the four moved to their seats, watching as people started to filter into the funeral home. Uryuu and Starrk arrived next, soon followed by Tessai, Hanatoru, Ryuuken, Ikkaku and Yumichika.

Yumichika watched the four, feeling out what was coming off of them before deciding that he would let the anger and hate rolling off of the big busted woman go for the day. It was a day of mourning and he knew that should she do anything, someone would be quick to put her into her place.

Grimmjow, Soi-Fon, Szayel and most of the Homicide Specialty Unit took up posts around the rooms, wondering around as old patients, friends of all three Kurosakis and the only other living family member that still talked to the Kurosakis. Ichigo greeted them all with slightly sadden smiles and quiet words, waiting for the rest of his friends. Shuuhei soon arrived with Kensei, Aizen, Sado and Gin, all of them sitting as close to Ichigo as they could without being right beside him.

The rest of the funeral and the gathering at the house went alright, the Guardians and Unit making sure that no one was able to get anywhere in the house where they weren't supposed to be. Once the last person left with words of comfort for the last Kurosaki, Ichigo closed the door with a heavy sigh as he lent against the door. He hummed lowly at Shinji as he carried a trash bag into the kitchen.

"Tired?" Shinji asked as he came out of the kitchen, moving to Ichigo, who just laughed and nodded his head. Smirking, he swept the lean male up into his arms with a smirk, getting a sound of protest. "Come on. Let's go upstairs, take a hot bath and go to bed."

"Make it a shower and you have a deal," Ichigo said, shaking his head as he let Shinji do what he wanted to do. After dealing with all of the glares the last few hours that had come from Orihime and a few others that he had barely known, he figured that if Shinji wanted to spoil him, why not let him.


	16. Like a Bullet 16

Title: Like a Bullet

Fandom: Bleach

Chapter: 16

Characters: Various

Word count: 3,069

AN: And the next chapter. Today was not a good day for me so I'm going to post and then eat pizza. That's my plan.

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"Urahara, Kisuke. Older brother to Masaki Urahara, age 49. He is a candy shop owner, also a widower but divorced once. He has two children; Jinta, from his first, late wife, and Ururu, from his second wife. From what his second wife said, it was an easy divorce, having gotten married when Jinta was 2," Shunsui read aloud, Byakuya lifting an eyebrow at the information. "He hasn't talked with Ichigo-san since his sisters' death when Ichigo was 6. I don't see any reason for that."

"We'll find out when we interview him," Byakuya said, smiling lightly as they pulled up to the candy shop. "Though, I do wonder if we will get any kind of information from him."

"Like why we can't find any information on Ichigo-sans grandparents on his mothers' side?" Shunsui asked, looking through the file before him. "Not even Ichigo-san could tell Shinji anything about them beyond the fact that he has never met them, never once talked to them and had no pictures in the house with them. Even after going through all of those boxes of pictures, he could not find one picture of anyone that he doesn't know."

"I see," Byakuya mused, sliding out of the car. Moving to the back door, he opened it and pulled out the camera bag and his case bag as Shunsui followed his example, grabbing his bag.

"Why isn't Aizen doing this now?" Shunsui asked as they walked up to the store front.

"He's following a lead on who might have called out the hits on Ichigo-sans family. We're hoping learn who did it soon," Byakuya replied

"Any why take me and not Renji?" his current partner asked, sending him along look, getting a bland one back.

"He's not particularly good with people who push his buttons. And somehow, Urahara-san pushes his buttons. I believe that it is due to him just basically abandoning his family for whatever reason he has," Byakuya stated, opening the front door and stepping in. A short dark haired girl with large eyes and pale skin stood in the front of the shop, holding a broom and looking at the two men shyly. "Is Urahara-san here?" he asked the young girl.

"Yes. I'll go get dad," she said, nodding before moving towards the back rooms. The two investigators found out in those few words that she was Ururu, Uraharas youngest. A slightly taller child, this one male, came out, his hair a few shades lighter then what Byakuya knew Renjis was, and scowled at them

"If you're not here to buy something, then why are you here?" Jinta asked.

"They are here to speak with me, Jinta-kun. You two must be Byakuya-san and Shunsui-san from the Homicide Specialty Unit. Welcome to my candy shop," a tall blond man greeted, smiling brightly from under a green and white stripped hat. "I'm Kisuke Urahara. Please, follow me and we can discuss my sisters' family."

"Can we visit Ichigo sometime? Now that he's lost everyone else, we're all that he has," Ururu asked quietly, getting an indulgent smile from her father.

"Yes, we can, as long as he wants to see us," Urahara told her. "For now, go finish your chores, sweetheart."

"Yes, daddy," Ururu said, bouncing off to continue sweeping the store with her elder brother.

"Please, follow me," Urahara said, smiling at the two men before heading for the back rooms, leading Byakuya and Shunsui to a semi large office. He sat down behind a desk before picking up a long surge protector. "This is an old building with only a few plugs. I do hope this will work."

"That is fine, Thank you, Urahara-san," Byakuya replied, setting up his camera so that it pointed towards the other man. "For the record please state your name, age, occupation, and your relationship with Ichigo-san and his family," he requested, the two investigators pulling out yellow legal pads.

"My name is Kisuke Urahara. I am 49 years of age at the moment and I have two children name Jinta and Ururu. My relationship to Isshin Kurosaki was as a brother-in-law. Yuzu Kurosaki, Karin Kurosaki and Ichigo Kurosaki are my two nieces and my nephew; was in the case of Yuzu and Karin," Urahara stated. Byakuya and Shunsui took down their notes as Urahara waited for the questions to come.

"As you know, Isshin-san, Yuzu-san and Karin-san were murdered. Do you have any idea as to who would want them dead?" Byakuya asked, looking up at the shop owner, who rubbed at his face with one hand.

"First of all, I should tell you about our family. And yes, this will answer all of your questions," Urahara promised, taking off his hat and putting it aside on the desk. Running his hand through blond hair, he gazed at the two men before him. "My family is connected to a group that makes the Yakuzas all look like pussy cats and are all Talents. That is, they all have a skill that could be considered a Talent or are just useful in some way. Those who do not have a Talent or a skill were considered minions, cannon fodder and nothing more, except doctors who work for them.

"So, where do you and your sister fall into that?" Shunsui asked, Urahara leaning back.

"Our parents are the heads of the mind branch of the Talents. Mind you, for every Talent, they fall under the various categories. Ichigo, the twins and my own two are third generation Talents. If the twins had lived, they would have been very powerful when and if their abilities woke up. The same goes for Ichigo and my children," he said, rubbing at the bridge of his nose. "For the most part, my family is who police the world; know who has an ability and what they use it for. In a way, they police the other Talents of the world."

"What else do they do?" Shunsui asked, raising an eyebrow as he looked up from his notepad.

"They own businesses, work in high paying jobs, at least the higher people do. The lower ranks a mix," Urahara answered. "Now, as to who would want to kill Isshin and the children… I would have to say one of the higher ups that have it out for my parents. If you push a Talent enough, even a latent one, their abilities will awaken and be useable, if untrained. And if you're able to get into their life early enough, you'll be able to help control them. Through Ichigo, you'll be able to control my parents, even though they don't speak with him at all."

"So, why don't you speak with Ichigo-san? You stopped right after his mothers death, I believe," Byakuya said, gazing at Urahara with knowing eyes, the man just sighing and slumping in his chair.

"I stopped talking to them due to my own selfish guilt. Ichigo, even at such a sweet, tender age, looked a lot like Masaki-chan. It hurt so much to look at the beautiful boy who was so much like her," Urahara admitted, running his fingers through his hair once more. "I kept tabs on them though and became a silent investor in his store. He doesn't even know who helped him since Ryuuken helped me."

"So, you didn't speak to your family because of Ichigo-sans looks," Shunsui summarized as they wrote that down. "Do you have names of who would want the Kurosakis dead and Ichigo-sans Talent to be activated?" he asked, Uraharas face falling into a look of concentration.

"Perhaps. I'm going to have to speak with my parents first though. They would know better then I, seeing as my sister and I left that world for our own lives," Urahara stated. "And should I hear anything about the Bounts, I will tell you. Though I have a feeling that they are after Ichigo for their own purposes, and it may conflict with whoever sent them after his family."

"We already have someone watching him and his friends," Byakuya stated, the man smirking at the two other males.

"Let me guess, The Guardian Bodyguard Services," Urahara drawled, getting looks from the two. "Trust me, everyone with a Talent and is connected to the world of Talents know about Aizen and his people. So, all things considered, Talents know everything about every other Talent out there. If you need information, feel free to come around."

"Thank you. If you find anything out, please call me," Byakuya said, placing a card down before gathering everything up. The two left, sharing looks at the new information and the confirmation that there was indeed a collection of Talents that were a part of the underworld.

As they left, Gin was snuffing out his cigarette across town, sitting back in his chair and looking out over the street as he pulled out a new cigarette. Placing it into his mouth, he lit it and took a long draw as Sado opened the sliding widow door, stepping out onto the balcony.

"Thinking hard or hardly thinking?" Sado asked as he sat down in the other chair, long, strong body sprawling out. Gin snorted at the other man who looked fresh from his shower.

"Thinking hard. We got an e-mail a few moments ago from Byakuya about Uraharas interview. Apparently, our dear Ichi-chans family leads a group of Talents that make the Yakuza look like pussy cats," Gin sighed, waving his cigarette and frowning lightly.

"I've heard of them. They're rather gray on the scale of things," Sado admitted, shrugging as he watched his companion take a long drag. "They police themselves for the most part, don't they? Hardly interact with anyone that's not connected to them in some way."

"That's right. For the most part, all we know are rumors that abound. On occasion, they would be thought o be connected to the Bounts on jobs that were mostly information gathering jobs," Gin stated, putting out his cigarette, saving the rest in the carton. The two fell into silence, the only sound the cars that drove past them below.

Sado was thinking about how everything had changed in the last three weeks. Ichigo had lost his family in one fell swoop, destroying the hope that they would make up someday. He had come back to his childhood home to clear it out, stepping into it for the first time in nearly three years. They had soon discovered that a gang of Talents called Bounts wanted something from the sweet male that they just couldn't pin down. Perhaps they wanted him for his latent Talent, which would be very dangerous once activated if it was in their hands.

Or they could want him for his looks. Ichigo did look quite a bit like his mother, was actually pretty in his own way, handsome when he was actually dressing like a male instead of a female.

But still, there was something that niggled at the back of his mind, making him wonder but the thought always seemed to slip through his fingers.

"Do you think that the Bounts know about Ichigo-chans family and what they do and who they are?" Sado asked curiously, raising an eyebrow at his companion who had relit his half finished cigarette. Watching the violet eyes slit open, he waited as Gin thought over everything.

"It's possible. Then again, they might not know at all, just for the simple fact that whoever sent them after might have kept the family connections a secret," he said, finishing his cigarette off quickly and snuffing out the butt in the ash tray before him. "There are no records anywhere that connect Masaki Kurosaki to her family, especially since both she and her brother used their mothers' maiden name instead of their fathers' last name."

"So, this may or may not be connected to Ichigos family, his grandparents to be precise," Sado sighed, closing his eyes and tipping his head back against the back of his chair.

"Byakuya-kun thinks it might be a rather massive political maneuver. If whoever sent the Bounts after the Kurosakis is able to get their claws in Ichigo-san, then they could control his grandparents," Gin hummed, frowning unhappily at the thought.

"Was Ichigo-chan told about his family?" Sado asked, gazing at the other man, Gin standing up to get something to drink. After a few moments, he came back out with two cups of a dark, amber liquid, the scent coming from them telling Sado that Gin had gotten into his whiskey. Ice cubes floated in the cups. "Well?"

"I think so; at least that's what I was told. Apparently, he knew that something was different about his family, especially since his mother never once talked about her family. He was surprised that she was the child of one of the head of this group though," Gin stated as he sat down again, handing over one of the cups before sipping from his own.

"He probably has to process it," Sado mused, sipping from his glass. "Do you think whoever sent them is already a part of his life?" he asked.

"It's doubtful, but possible," Gin drawled. "All of the people that we know about and have interviewed don't have any Talents themselves, outside of Orihime, and they would never go for such a wild card. She's to off, uses her powers at the drop of a hat," he continued, tilting his glass back and forth in the air.

"So, if they were going to use him as a pawn, let's say, they would be using threats, keeping an eye on him and using that knowledge to keep everyone in their place?" Sado asked, Gin nodding his head.

"Pretty much," Gin replied, once more opening his eyes to take in the strong body before him as Sado once more lapsed into silence, thinking. He knew that Sado was always worried about Ichigo, had been from the first time they had met all those years ago. Sado had admitted that he thought that he might have a small time Talent, always seeming to pick up when someone was lying or hiding something. But the large man had just brushed it off as to having a strong bullshit meter, much like his grandfather.

That had prompted Gin to do some research into Sados family, finding out just who they were. What he had found had been surprising to say the least.

There had been no information about his mothers' family, all of them Japanese and not really anywhere at the moment. Sados fathers' family had been his Mexican side. When his parents had died, Sado had gone to his grandfather in Mexico around age nine and had lived there until his grandfathers' death. The large man had been fourteen and large even at that age. Afterwards, he had moved back to Japan and met Ichigo soon after that.

Finding no information on Sados mothers' family had raised a red flag and made him dig a bit deeper. Sados mother had been a first generation Talent but had left her own life behind to marry the man who had been her husband. After that, a car accident had cut every tie that Sado had through his mother, which Gin figured was a good thing, leaving him to find his own way in life. Sados father had been a lower level second generation Talent, his own Talent boosting hers and the mix of their powers adding to create something more to their child's abilities.

He had told Sado and his charge had agreed with him that the Talent needed to be trained and very soon.

"So, how can I help? I can't just sit back and ignore everything that is going on around us," Sado suddenly said, lips pulled into a tight frown as he finished his whiskey.

"Well, you know how to fight and we know your Talent has to do with sensing, so that's a step in the right direction in helping this come to a final close," Gin hummed as the clink of ice drew his eyes to Sados hand. He had to stop himself from creating an inner dialogue about how sure and gentle it was with the glass and how it would feel to have those hands on him. Shaking his head, he hid his face behind his own glass and the fall of hair as Sado gazed at him with his knowing eyes.

"So, when do we start?" he rumbled, drawing Gins attention back to the subject at hand.

"Tomorrow. We'll need to start right after your classes and it won't be easy. I have a feeling that we'll have to work fast and hard due to very little time available to us," Gin stated, placing his glass down with a clink on the table between them. Sado nodded and continued to gaze at him with to all knowing eyes.

After a few minutes of looking between them, Sado heaved his body out of his chair and walked over to Gin, making the lean man distinctly feel like prey at that moment. Taking a deep breath as his companion leant over, he let it escape as long fingers buried themselves into his hair.

"Then I take it we have the night to ourselves right?" The question was asked just above his lips, warm breath sliding over them. Gins eyes opened half way, showing darkened violet eyes as he reached up and pulling Sado into a deep, breath stealing kiss.

The rest of the night passed in a blur of hands seeking sensitive flesh, teasing out sounds of pleasure as lips followed the hands path and clothes met the floor. the two became intimately acquainted with the others body, Gin discovering just how proportional Sado was all over and enjoying every blinding, bone melting, friction filled second of it. After they had sated their need for their partners' body for the time, Sado cleaned the both of them, changed the sheet and held the pale, limp, contented Gin close.

The next morning, he called off of classes to take care of Gin, who had forgotten that taking a larger lover into ones body after so long left a person hurting and needing much pampering. Sado happily provided that pampering. It was a call from a pissed off Shinji and a jumpy Ichigo that ruined their afternoon nap.


	17. Like a bullet 17

Title: Like a Bullet

Fandom: Bleach

Chapter: 17

Characters: Cain, Ichigo, Shinji, others

Word count: 3,091

AN: First of all, Cain a pervy voyeur. Seriously. And I told you that things were happening. :3 Also, since I didn't post this last week, I am sharing a new one shot in my Tales of a Broken Society world, or under my Bleach Mini's if you will. Depends on what site you're reading this on.

* * *

Setting up in his window, Cain scanned the house with icy blue eyes, taking in all of the usual details with a single sweep. Finding that the ones he was after were in Ichigo's bedroom, he set up the long range camera and the sound telescope before attaching them to his lap top to record what he caught. Soon he had everything set up and ready to go, including a bottle of lotion and a smaller bottle of lube. He had long ago learned that having both close by while spying on Ichigo, along with anything to clean up with, was a good idea.

The pretty male had a tendency to run around in a pair of skimpy under garments as he got ready for this or that.

Cain could easily see why Jin wanted the cross dresser as his own with all of that pale, flushed skin. Ichigo took good care of his skin, always using favored lotions over every inch of his body. Watching Ichigo while he did that always seemed to arouse him in all sorts of ways.

Shaking his head, Cain turned his eyes towards his lap top, opening the needed files and programs before tweaking the view and direction of not only his camera, but also the sound telescope. The sound of giggles, low and husky, followed by lusty laughter, filtered from his head phones, making him pull them up to rest over his ears. Adjusting the camera, he found himself staring at a lounging Shinji in a pair of sweat pants in Ichigos bed. Ichigo himself was perched on his lap, hands resting on Shinjis stomach as his lovers' hands rested on his thighs.

Cain wondered what the two were planning on doing as his eyes took in their state of undress. Ichigo was clad in a pair of boy cut panties the color of wine, and a pair of thigh high stockings, and nothing else as a smirk played on red lips. Shinji was playing with the tops of the stockings, brushing his fingers over the exposed skin there.

"You're so very naughty," came Ichigos' voice, the tone light, teasing as he wiggled in Shinjis lap. Shinjis chuckle came through clearly, allowing Cain to sit back and enjoy the free show. His cock was taking a interest in the sight before him, his body shifting in his seat as he brushed his fingers over his groin, wondering if Ichigos skin was indeed as soft as it looked.

"How am I the naughty one when you're the one that likes to dress in front of me?" Shinji asked teasingly, eyes sparkling, even from the angle. Cain wondered just how far the two had gone, even as he watched Ichigo teasingly roll his hips over his lovers.

"Well, I'm not the one that got all hard just watching me fuss over my stockings," Ichigo teased, getting a snort from Shinji.

"I can't help it if I happen to think that your stockings are sexy," Shinji drawled, Cain silently agreeing with him on that count. Shifting so his hips slid forward, the man idly played with his pants button as Shinji slid his hands up to gently cup the rounded ass that Cain wouldn't have minded groping.

Then again, the barely there play of muscle under Shinjis skin also made Cain wonder just what it would feel like to have the man touch him… hold him down and use him. Groaning, he flicked his pants button open and pulled his zipper down, freeing his hardness with a low moan of relief.

"Oh, so what do they say about guys with a thing for cross dressers who are dressing?" Ichigo asked, leaning forward. His hair fell over his shoulders, brushing against Shinjis chest as he brushed his lips against his mates.

"They call 'em kinky," Shinji teased, rolling his hips upwards as Cain watched with dark eyes. Reaching out, Cain grabbed the bottle of slick, putting it close by for use as he teased himself by running his fingers up and down his length.

"Man, I should have taken the day off, especially if these two are gonna be all over each other all day," Cain moaned, spreading his legs as he watched Shinji kiss Ichigo. The moans and sound of their kiss came loud and clear over the waves, nothing less then what he expected from Kogas work. "I don't think that my poor dick can survive this," he groaned. Ichigo and Shinji separated, the younger males' lips even more red and swollen, his eyes half lidded.

"I can do kinky." Cain whimpered at the sound of Ichigos voice. The usually sweet, low tones had deepened, husked with lust for his partner, which sent heat shooting through his body.

"Oh can you?" Shinji asked, running one finger over Ichigos bottom lip, a pink tongue darting out to lap at it. Cain mewled, fingers scrambling for the bottle of lube, wondering how the blond kept his cool in such an arousing situation. AS he spoured a dollop onto his length, he whimpered again as Ichigo answered.

"Well, I sucked your dick in your car at the drive-ins didn't I?" Ichigo asked lowly, voice full of promise. "Ryuuken and Hana were nearby, along with Yumichika-san and Ikkaku-san. You had to bite your bottom lip, remember?" he asked, getting moans from Shinji and the watching Cain.

"Damn, you are a fucking tease," Shinji groaned as Ichigo sucked the finger into his mouth, sucking on it with a low hum. Cain slowly stroked himself as he watched the two start to move and grind against each other.

Shinji removed the slick finger from the leaner males' mouth, his other hand tugging at Ichigos underwear, getting them down enough to expose his ass and let his cock free. Ichigo shifted, lifting up enough to pull on Shinjis sweat pants, getting them down enough so that the other mans cock was greeted by an eager hand that teased it. The Guardian moaned, his slick finger disappearing between the sweet cheeks.

Cain could only shiver and guess that the finger had slid into tight heat that made Ichigo moan so very nicely. Tightening his hand, he swiped his thumb over the tip of his cock, groaning as he watched Ichigo continue to move his hand and Shinji work his finger in and out of the sweet body.

Shinji suddenly growled, which drew Cains dazed eyes to where it looked as if Ichigo was teasing a nipple, hands grasping onto the bed, the blonds other hand between them. The lean spy could only guess that the man had both of their cocks in hand and was stroking.

The two men rocked and moaned on Cains screen, making him pant and groan as he continued to bring himself off, his hand moving fast and hard. The sound of pleasure as Ichigo arched, lips parted, sent a stab of lust through him, the cross dresser rubbing against Shinji before going lip with a long keen. It was the growled 'Ichigo' that tipped the Bount over the edge with a gasp as he went limp in his seat.

"Damn," came the quiet pant over the line, stirring Cain from his lethargy. Leaning forward, he pulled out several wet naps out of his case and cleaned up his hand. As he cleaned his hands, the next words he heard made him go stiff with wide eyes. "Hey, Shinji? What's that in the window next door? What the hell is that?"

Looking at the lap top screen, he cursed at the sight of a barely dressed Ichigo, still perched in Shinjis lap, pointing to his window.

"Fuck," Cain breathed, scrambling to grab everything and wipe all of the possible surfaces he possible could.

"Stay put, Ichigo. Get one of the guns," Shinji said, sending Cain scrambling to leave the house quickly. Unplugging the lap top to the sight of the blond tossing a shirt aside as he ran out of the door with a gun in hand and no Ichigo in sight, Cain ran for the stairs, heading for the back door. Bounding down them, he ran out the back, diving into he bushes at the sound of Shinji running into the house. Cursing mentally, he kept hidden as much as possible before calling Jin for a ride.

Back at the house, Shinji snarled and shook his head before looking around the rooms. Closing it up, he called Ichigo, finding him dressing and told his lover to come over so they could call the Unit and the Guardians. Once the snarling Ichigo had stalked over, they called Gin and Sado first.

"Gin, sorry to interrupt your happy afternoon, but I think we've discovered how Cain was watching the Kurosakis," Shinji said into he phone as Ichigo shivered.

"We were being watched fucking around!" Ichigo groused, eyes dark with anger. "No one said anything about perverted killers."

"What was that about perverted killers?" Gin asked over the line as Sado stood from the couch.

"We were messing around while Cain was watching. I'm not sure how much he saw," Shinji admitted, running a hand through his hair with a frown. "I'm going to get Ichigo set up in the master bedroom with a gun and then I'll fully secure the house. Can you call everyone for me?" he asked, pulling Ichigo close, pressing a kiss to the top of his head.

"Yeah, no problem," Gin replied, taking the cup of water and pain killer from Sado. "You take care of Ichigo and I'll call everyone to meet us at Ichigo-sans house."

"Warn them that there might be biological fluids that we haven't found before. One of the upstairs rooms smelled like stale sex," Shinji warned.

"Oh for fucks sake," Ichigo muttered into the blonds shoulder. "You'd think I would know to keep the curtains closed, but I had to like the sun coming into my room," he complained, Shinji smiling indulgently down at him.

"I'll warn them. Tell Ichigo to take a hot bath, relax and that we'll be there soon," Gin drawled, Shinji relaying the message.

"Thanks, we'll see you then," Shinji said, closing the phone. Drawing his lover to the house, he got him too agree to locking himself in the master bedroom with some food, a bottle of soda and one of rum, just in case he wanted something more, and a gun. Once Ichigo was set up in the bedroom, Shinji checked all of the rooms, closing the gauzy under curtains and locking the windows.

It didn't take very long for Byakuya, Renji, Szayel, Toshiro and Rangiku to arrive, sealing off the house across the street. Shinji walked out to greet them, smiling lightly at his co-workers before nodding to the Unit detectives.

"You guys are ready?" he asked, smoothing his shirt down, lips pulled into a thoughtful frown.

"Of course. Show us which room it was?" Hitsugaya asked, opening the back of his van, the letters H. S. U. proclaiming just who owned it. Byakuya was in another large van, this one with several computers in the back, running through various data bases to figure out who just owned the house. Renji was running crime scene tape around the front gate as Rangiku took pictures of the front door. "Did you use gloves?" he asked as he pulled on a pair of white gloves himself.

"No, but I kicked in the door, so my foot print will be there and Ichigo used his skirt to close the door for me," Shinji replied as the small male gathered everything he would need. Closing the door, Hitsugaya nodded and moved to the front of the house as Rangiku got ready to dust the door.

"Open the door first please," Hitsugaya drawled, the red head doing that for him. Szayel followed the icy colored male with his own bags in hand, Aizen pulling up as they disappeared inside.

"There's no firm record as to who owns the house but it looks like a dummy corporation that bought it from the Kurosakis old neighbor who died nearly six years ago," Byakuya state, climbing out of the van as Renji put the tape away.

"Hold that thought please," Shinji said, heading for the house. Standing in the doorway, he found Rangiku dusting the door knob while Szayel walked slowly around the sparsely furnished living room as Hitsugaya took pictures. "If you go upstairs, you need to turn left, towards Ichigos place. The room is found there," he told the short detective. Hitsugaya hummed in acknowledgement as he continued to take pictures, working his way towards the kitchen and stairs.

Once that was done, Shinji headed back towards Aizen, Byakuya and Renji once more, nodding his head to the three.

"Do you think that the company is a Bount cover company?" Renji asked, writing down what they were talking about for the reports that they were going to have to write up.

"It's quite possible. They have several real companies that do run legally, but they also have several dummy corporations that they use to hide behind. We just don't have their names as of yet," Byakuya explained to Shinji and Aizen.

"Do they also own properties like this one?" Aizen as Shinji kept an eye on the surrounding area, one hand on his back where his gun sat.

"It's possible. We've found that they all have various names, which they keep going and alive until it's time to use them and get rid of them if they're found out about," Renji sighed, scratching at his head, ponytail bobbing with the movement. "They have, literally, hundreds of names and they're good at blending in and changing their looks. It's amazing."

"Indeed. Hopefully we'll figure out just why they bought this house six years before they started to stalk the Kurosakis and Ichigo," Aizen said.

"Do you think that they bought it as a safe house originally? And then started watching Ichigo and his family even back then just for the heck of it?" Shinji asked, shifting on his feet.

"More then likely. It's a good house, in the middle of a very low crime neighborhood and rather understated," Byakuya mused, gazing at the house.

"How about you tell me what happened when you found out you were being watched," Aizen suggested, gazing at Shinji. He coughed as a blush dusted his cheeks.

"Ah, we had a late start today, what with the clean up after the get together after the funeral. We hadn't been able to do anything until yesterday with most of the stuff," Shinji admitted.

"Wasn't the funeral nearly two days ago?" Renji asked; his eyes were wide as he stared at his friend.

"Yeah, but Ichigo had a stress headache yesterday, so the major cleaning didn't happen until yesterday afternoon," Shinji replied, shrugging one shoulder.

"I see," Renji hummed, writing that down as Shinji looked around the area once more.

"It was just after Ichigo had showered and was getting dressed. Being the hot blooded males that we are, and in a new relationship, we started to mess around. Some time from the start and when we saw the sound want sticking out of the curtains, along with the camera the pervert had set up and started to watch," Shinji stated, eyes narrowing at the thought that some guy had been checking out his lovers' body.

"Stop being jealous over someone perving out over your boyfriends' body for the moment and tell me what happened afterwards," Renji drawled, leering at Shinji as the man glared in return.

"I cleaned up a bit as I ran out with a gun, Ichigo hiding in the bathroom with a small pistol that I bought him a few days after I started to watch over him," Shinji replied. "By the time I got here, he had ditched the house and had disappeared. Unfortunately, I wasn't fast enough to catch our dear little perverted spy," he continued, Szayel coming out with the sound wand and camera in large evidence bags. "They looked like they were modified."

"They were. One of the Bounts is good at electronics and changed things around on them. Hitsugaya-san and I will print them before taking them apart," Szayel stated, placing the evidence bags into the Homicide Specialty Units van, Rangiku coming out, her nose wrinkled in displeasure.

"God, that room was rank. It seems as if any time they were in there, your spy Bount had himself a little fun. And not just by himself. It looks as if they used it as a love nest," she said, putting her evidence kit into the van.

"What do you mean by that?" Aizen asked, tilting his head to the side as he watched.

"She means that we found rather old semen and there's enough to suggest that whoever stayed there was fucking with someone in that room whenever they stayed there," came the reply from Hitsugaya as he put his own kit down, having appeared from the house.

"A few dozen times by the places we found it. Luckily for us, despite how good they cleaned, there were some leftovers. If I'm lucky, there will be enough DNA markers for me to create a profile," Szayel said, turning to the three.

"Good. Keep me informed to your progress. Where is Gin-san and Sado-san?" Aizen asked, frowning heavily, eyes narrowing as he looked around. The detectives and the Guardians looked at Shinji as music came from his pocket, making him pull out his phone.

"Well, speak of the devils," Shinji drawled, turning it onto speaker phone. "Where are you two?" he asked.

"We're still here at Sados place. We found his break lines sliced," Gin snarled. "If it wasn't for the fact that we're on an incline, we would have never noticed the fluid. We're waiting for a tow truck to drag it to the shop. Can someone come get us and take us to my place? I have a feeling it would be safer," he continued. Shinji blinked and stared at his phone before looking up at Aizen.

"I will, no worries," Aizen said, Shinji nodding.

"Hear that?" he asked, getting a yes. "For now, worry about the lines. Lift prints if you can and Aizen will be there in a while. We're done here, so we're all good."

"That's good. We'll be in Sados apartment. I see the tow truck now," Gin said. The two got off as Byakuya snorted.

"Looks like they're making their starting moves," he drawled.


	18. Like a Bullet 18

Title: Like a Bullet

Fandom: Bleach

Chapter: 18

Characters: Orihime

Word count:

AN: Please note that this is a peek into Orihime's mind. NO, she is far from sane. Her problem will be explained later.

So yeah.

Sitting down at her computer, Orihime frowned to herself before making a quick note on what her newest blog entry would be about, deciding to do the longest part of the entry at the end. Making sure that she had her soda near by, she smiled and started to type up her newest post.

_Today, my dear readers, today I think is a not so good day. Or to say, the last week hasn't been good to me._

_As you all know, about a week and a half ago, my dear friend and employer, Isshin Kurosaki and his two, twin daughters were killed. Since then, it has been discovered that they had been stalked and murdered by some very cruel people. A special unit force in the police department called The Homicide Specialty Unit has taken over the investigation. They are actually working with a special body guard and investigation group simply known as The Guardians._

_Since I learned about them working the case, I've done some research on both groups and they're rather small, even in numbers. Especially in numbers. The Homicide Specialty Unit employees a total of eight detectives while the Guardians employee ten people and those don't include the techs that they use to run evidence._

_I actually met the man who runs the Guardians. One Aizen, Souske._

Pausing in her typing at the thought of the man, she shivered as her nipples tightened in arousal. Sipping her soda to help her calm down, she continued to type.

_Let me tell ya, he is yummy, with a capital Y. He's smooth and kind and a wonderful gentleman. He came on his own to interview me and he was kind to me as he kept his eyes above my neck. He kinda reminded me of Isshin-kun before he started to go back on his morals. It was nice and I can't help but wonder if I'll see him again sometime soon._

_Though I have to wonder why he did come alone since Tatsuki and Keigo told me that when they had gone in that he had had a partner, one of the people from the unit called Shunsui, Kyoraku. His picture that I found showed that he was pretty good looking in a rugged way. I wouldn't mind meeting him in a dark alley when he has a quickie on the mind. Yum._

_To move on, the will of Isshin was read and it wasn't very good for me. Not what I thought the man would leave me after all the time we were together, that was for sure. I swear, he told me that he had left me the house and money if he and his girls died. Well, he, Yuzu and Karin all died but Kurosaki, Ichigo, his so called disowned child, inherited everything. Which leaves me with enough to buy next semesters books and pay for classes, maybe to fix up my junker if I buy used instead of new text books._

_I wonder just why Isshin broke his promise to me in such a way. And now, the disowned bastard is going to turn the beautiful house and wonderful clinic into a store for the less moral out in the world!_

_I've been to his store, but I'm going to wait to talk about him for the moment._

_Sado… now that's a person I haven't talked to in a while._

Stopping once more, Orihime leant back and took a deep breath, trying to calm herself enough to write her entry without cursing every two words. She didn't want to lose her blog or her ads that helped to pay for her bills. If she put to many details about her sex life or cursed too much, any of she them could pull their ads. She had another blog, a story one really, that talked about her sex life, so it was easy as long as she took the time to edit her posts before she posted.

But she often wrote about Ichigo and his perversions, posting them on her other site when she wasn't talking about sex, kinks, and her exploits. They were usually filled with quite a few expletives. A few of her readers admitted to copy and pasting them into a word document before removing all of the cursing just to understand what she was trying to say. She understood why and didn't care about that all that much. After all, they did continue to support her via comments left and various donations that helped her build a large money base that she kept tucked away.

Debating if she should add rum to her soda for a moment, she decided against it until after she had posted and continued to work on her entry.

_I don't know where he's gone off to. I see him in class, but he moved and changed all of his numbers. His old landlord has kept his mouth shut about where he is now. Even with my chest flashing at him, he kept it shut. He told me that one of The Guardians told him to keep quiet due to a threat to people that are connected to one Ichigo Kurosaki._

_I don't seem to fall under that category since I could care less if the little piece of white trash dies. He made his bed by choosing to look like a chick, wearing a woman's wardrobe and taking their place in a mans' bed._

_But Mizuiro also seems to be exceedingly busy all of a sudden and there are journals on his blog and online journals that are password locked with one that I don't know. I can't help but wonder what he talks about on those journals. And I wonder if he's not turning his back on me to. Hell, he doesn't even come to me on the slow nights when he can't get laid. _

_Let me tell ya, the polite men are always the ones that are wild. I kind of miss that with him and I've been debating if I shouldn't call him and invite him sometime soon._

_Or I should just call up one of my other partners. I haven't really gotten laid in nearly four months, at least not since Isshin took me out that one night. I had so hoped that he would take me to bed that night, but it hadn't happened, nor did it happen any time after that night. It was so disappointing, more so when I found out about their deaths. I had had such high hopes for our budding relationship._

Once more, she stopped her typing, eyes glazing over as she remembered her time working with Isshin after Ichigo had been tossed out and later, after she had lost her part time job. He had been so kind to her, giving her a well paying job when she needed it. They had gotten close, close enough for Isshin to feel comfortable enough to ask her out on a date before things got really odd with him and the twins once more.

She supposed it was about then that the stalking had started up again. Snorting, Orihime drank the last of her soda down before standing up and walking to the kitchen. Pouring some more soda, she headed back to her bedroom, taking her seat once more as she fixed her nightgown so that it rested around her legs. Once more, she started to type her newest entry.

_First I lose Isshin and now I fear I am losing Sado and Mizuiro. I wonder if it is not due to Ichigo popping up on this side of town again._

_As I sit here, I realized that I have never once talked about why I hate Ichigo Kurosaki, or at least not in great detail. Much less my past with him. We all know who he and his store is publicly known but I know who he once was, the lies that he told all of us. Let's remedy that._

_I met him through Tatsuki during our first year of high school and I thought he was so amazing, absolutely amazing. He had shorter hair back then, the color much lighter then the richer red-orange it is now. He scowled a lot back then but his brown eyes were so much more expressive than anything I've ever seen. So dark and rich, carrying just a hint of sadness in them. His voice was just as rich as it is now, making me tingle in arousal. Not that I knew what the feeling was in those early days; no that came later, that knowledge._

_As the years passed, we grew closer together and I felt that he would ask me out finally. All the signs pointed to it and I kept dropping hints. By the time he had been discovered being fucked, I had slept with a couple of guys to make sure I would please him of course. _

_A woman needs to know how to make her man happy._

_When he didn't come to school one day, or the next, all of us; me, Tatsuki, Sado, Mizuiro and Keigo; all went over to the Kurosaki household. It was Karin that told us how Isshin found Ichigo fucking._

_Or rather being fucked by some guy who didn't even go to our school. And in a skirt!_

_I could feel my heart break at the news. He had lied to me about caring about me. He lied to all of us about being straight and to damn busy with studying to actually date anyone. He broke my heart, hurt all of us so very much. And for what? To be a woman? To wear skirts and be bent over and taken by any male that shows interest in him?  
_

_It disgusts me so very much and makes me wonder why I even loved him. Now he owns a store that caters to those with loose or no morals, has a staff of sluts just like him and has a handsome blond panting after him._

_Mind you, the blond could get any woman he wanted, especially since he is the Shinji Hirako, gun expert of The Guardians. He's handsome, smart, and apparently very brilliant and has a well paying job. Any woman he's with through would have to watch him closely to make sure that he doesn't end up returning to his old ways. _

_For now, I suppose I should sign off. Tomorrow, I have an interview and one test, the rest of my classes being cancelled. I hear a cup of coke and rum calling my name._

_Cheers, Orihime._

Humming and posting the blog entry, Orihime stood up and moved to the kitchen. Pouring a fresh cup of soda, adding a good splash of rum, she felt flushed with her anger from the talk of Ichigo and her past with him. Shaking her head with a huff, Orihime leant against her counter, staring out of the kitchen window above the sink.

"What am I to do? What am I to do with everyone loving me?" she sang to herself as she swirled her drink around.


	19. Like a Bullet 20

Title: Like a Bullet

Fandom: Bleach

Part: 20

Pairings: Many

Word count:

AN: Ahhh, this was supposed to be posted last week if not for the fact that I was at my siblings place and didn't have my flash drive. Sorry you guys!

But on a side note, until I finish editing my next mini story (which is currently a Yu Yu Hakusho) Tales of a Broken Society will be updated on Tuesdays. :D

* * *

Staring at his phone, eyes narrowed, Ryuuken wondered if he shouldn't pull out the secured to death computer and call them that way instead. He knew he would have to do it anyways, but he didn't want to really deal with the cords. Finally giving in, he pulled out the case and started to set up the laptop, making sure that everything was properly connected.

Once the set up was complete, he sat back, gray eyes dark in thought as he stared at the blank screen. Sighing, Ryuuken reached out, wondering just why he was calling his past before looking at the family picture that they had just taken just a year ago. Ichigo and Uryuu smiled from next to him, both looking so very happy.

"I'm doing this for Ichigo-kun. I'm doing this for all of us," Ryuuken sighed, running a hand over his face. Flipping the computer on, he was waiting for someone to answer his video call.

"What a surprise to see you again, Ryuuken-san," came the sweet voice of a well remembered woman. A braid sat trailing down her chest, while large, dusty gray eyes gazed at him from a kind face.

"You haven't changed a bit, Unohana-san," Ryuuken drawled, smiling softly at her. "I don't call for myself today though."

"Tell me then, Ryuuken-san, who do you call for?" Unohana asked, leaning forward, her calmness radiating even over the computer.

As Ryuuken talked with Unohana, telling her about the murders and what had happened in the last few weeks to Ichigo, Jin was staring at his own computer, talking with Orihime. He was setting up a meeting with her as he contemplated what he was going to do next.

"What am I going to do?" Jin murmured to himself before reading the new comment from Orihime. "What can I do about the slut who wishes for a pussy she asks," he snorted, leaning back in his chair as he thought of what she could do to the man. "So very many things, but nothing I'm willing to let you do. The dear cross dresser is mine to do with as I like."

Responding, making sure that he kept his real thoughts out of it, Jin offered her a chance to meet those who would enjoy helping her get the thorn out of her side. He told her that they knew how to do it best and would let her have all she wanted in life.

Of course, most of what he promised was bullshit. He would use her until he got what he really wanted and once her usefulness was over with Jin planned on turning into a toy for his Bounts, at least until they got bored of using her.

But until then…

Jin gazed out of his window, taking in the view of the city as it lit up around him. It was a lovely sight, that was for sure, and Jin had to admit that he was glad that he had listened to Sawatari about buying the building and turning it into a hotel with the top floor sealed off completely. It gave them another place to stay, hidden from the world as they either planned what they would do next or came down from a mission. It was soothing, allowing him to find his center, find the point where he could focus on what they were about to do next.

Lately, his mind had been filled with worry, something tickling at his mind and just out of reach. Jin didn't know what he had to worry about; everything was going well for him, going well for all of them. Except for Cain, who had holed himself up in his room again, hiding away from everyone. He had given his report, adding verbal details to the rather dryly written report, handed over the newest video and hidden away soon after, ashamed of himself, even knowing that Jin didn't blame him for a single thing.

Sighing lowly, Jin stood up and moved towards his liquor cabinet, pouring a glass of whiskey, adding an ice cube to it. Swirling it about, he stood before his window once more, watching the lights twinkle below him. The sounds of his people barely reaching him in his room as he waited for Orihimes response to his offer to meet and soon, feeling as his impatience tries to get the better of him. He wanted to kick start the last phase of his plan and as soon as he possible could.

The ding of his computer told him that she had responded, drawing him away from his window. Finding a meeting time, an address, her picture and a short message telling him she would be waiting for him, he smirked and finished his whiskey before dressing. A simple pair of jeans and a button up shirt covering his body, he left the penthouse apartment with a smug look on his face. Walking down the street towards the park where she wanted to meet, the red eyed man lit a cigarette and enjoyed the night air as the smoke played around his head. So far, things were going well for him.

He found the park, and soon after, the gazebo where a red headed woman stood, waiting for him to arrive at the place of their choice. She was wearing a rather short skirt that left long legs and creamy skin free to the air and sight. She also wore a tank top that was cut low, flattering her cleavage, which was ample. Her hair had been tugged upwards into a ponytail, spilling down her back. All in all, a beautiful picture.

The sight of her disgusted Jin and he fought to keep his face pleasant and turned his mind to how Ichigo would look in such an outfit. It was a pleasant image to his inner mind and helped keep the smile on his lips as he walked up to Orihime.

"Orihime-san, I'm Jin Kariya. We talked about fulfilling your desire to get back at Ichigo Kurosaki for screwing you over and having led you on for so many years," Jin purred, smiling lightly as he shook her hand. He received a flirtatious smile in return.

"Jin-san, a pleasure to finally meet you," she said happily, running light gray eyes over the male before her. She had to admit that he looked much better then she had originally thought. He was lean, fit and strong, much better looking then Isshin and Ichigo in her eyes. His coloring was just a bonus for her. "Please sit down," she offered, sitting down on the bench that ran the length of the gazebo herself. Smoothing down her skirt, she watched as Jin dropped his cigarette butt onto the ground, snuffing it with his foot before taking a seat next to her.

"From what I read, Kurosaki jerked you around back in high school, made you look like a fool in the long run, right?" Jin asked, pulling out a fresh cigarette, letting the methanol slide over his taste buds. Orihime looked sad as she pulled out a tissue from her purse, dabbing at her eyes.

"He lied to us all when he hid such a thing from us, and then he went behind our backs to date such men. I met his exs," she admitted, looking up through her lashes to gauge Jins' reaction. He was looking interested, which was a good sign for her. "They were all what Tatsuki has called ass hounds. All they wanted was sex from him and he willingly gave it up to them, no thought to his reputation or his families. If any of his exs bragged or talked about their time with Ichigo and it got back to any of their friends, their reputations would have been ruined. And he thought nothing of it, hurting Isshin in the long run."

"Such an insult," Jin purred, smirking as Orihime sighed softly and nodded her head before smiling up at him.

"It was," Orihime said sweetly, biting her bottom lip, eyelashes sweeping downward again. "And now he's come back. And he's talking about turning that gorgeous house into a storage area and actually live there. Can you imagine the revolving door that his house will have? He's already living with someone who can have anyone he would want, but is with that slut."

"Well, I can help you get your revenge and show him just how fucked Ichigo Kurosaki is from having hurt you," Jin said, smiling winningly, lifting one of her hands and kissing the back of it. "Let me tell you all about the Bounts and how you can help us as we help you," he purred, eyes smoldering.

"Do tell me," Orihime breathed, smiling brightly. Jin smirked and laid out the plan, adding a few false details that she didn't' know were false. Later that night, Jin was chuckling to himself as he laid back in his bed, eyes lazy. The next day, he would introduce Orihime to everyone and let Koga start her lessons, slowly making it so that when the time came, she would be the perfect pet.


	20. Like a Bullet 21

Title: Like a Bullet

Fandom: Bleach

Chapter: 21

Characters: Aizen, Byakuya

Word count: 1,445

AN: Another one before I have to leave for a couple of hours. *loves*

* * *

Pouring coffee into two cups of coffee, Aizen handed over one cup to his guest, a smile quirking his lips upwards as Byakuya continued to write out a comprehensive time line. He had decided that they needed a summary of all of the cases that they could link to the Bounts solidly and had gone through the files of cold cases for the last six years. He was only about ten cases in and taking down notes for comparison purposes.

"Still working on that?" Aizen asked as Byakuya pulled off his reading glasses and the headset he had been using to record his notes.

"Yes, I am. A pattern has started to come up," Byakuya said, saving the file as he sipped at his flavored water.

"A pattern?" Aizen asked, sitting down in his own arm chair, crossing his legs with a curious look on his face.

"Yes, a pattern," the other male replied, gazing at his notes. "They tend to stalk, if they, somewhere around a month to a year at a time. They learn all they can about the person or persons and all those around them, occasionally inserting themselves into their targets lives. During that time, they plan on how best to attack the ones they want to kill and then they fulfill that plan of attack," Byakuya stated, sipping at his drink once more. Aizen hummed as he thought over the information.

"So, by their own pattern…" he trailed off, eyes darkening in worry as his lips pulled downwards into a frown.

"They will be making their move rather soon," Byakuya concluded, a frown tugging at his lips. "Things will be moving faster then we thought before."

"That's right. Things will be moving much faster. It looks as if I'm going to have to prod Szayel into working on those samples faster. Do you think that Rangiku-san will be willing to help him?" Aizen asked, Byakuya pulling out his phone and sending her a message.

"We'll know in a few minutes," Byakuya replied. "I shall send out an e-mail about the new pattern. I'm surprised that Kira-san hasn't done this earlier. Then again, he has been busy with everything that has been going on. Even before this newest case that was dropped into our laps," he mused, resting his head on one hand, eyes half lidded as he thought.

"Poor Kira-san has been running around quite a bit lately," Aizen said, his lips twitching in amusement. "The poor boy had a boyfriend, didn't he?"

"Used to. The man wanted Kira-san to quit working as a detective and become a house husband. Kira put a stop to that and broke up with him. I think he's enjoying being single, able to come and go as he pleases," Byakuya replied, setting his cup aside with a barely there smile.

"At least he's having fun for the time being," Aizen drawled, finishing off his own coffee. Byakuya stood up and took his cup and Aizens to the coffee pot, pouring more for friend and making a cup for himself.

"Oh, he's having a lot of fun. He's been eyeing you up when you come to access the files and I know he's had a few nights with Ikkaku and Yumichika," Byakuya drawled as he fixed their coffees before walking back over. "He gets very talkative when he's had to much caffeine and not enough sleep, especially lately with how many hours we've been working," he shared, smirking at Aizen, who laughed loudly, shaking his head.

"My, my, you learn all sorts of things every day," Aizen snickered, shaking his head with a smile bright on his lips. "So, Kira-san has been double teamed by Yumichika-san and Ikkaku-san huh? Just one of them is a lot to handle. But both? Was he walking oddly after that?"

"A few times," the dark haired male drawled, swirling his coffee around in his cup, a smirk on his lips. "Speaking from experience there, my friend?" he asked teasingly, getting a dry look from Aizen before he smirked.

"It was quite the experience, let me tell you. I was very happy to be the crème to that cookie sandwich," Aizen drawled, looking rather smug about it. The answer surprised a laugh from Byakuya, making the man shake his head with a smile.

"And I thought having a drunken night with Kenpachi-san was wild," Byakuya drawled. "Now mind you, this was before me and Renji got together. Nearly a year ago actually."

"I'm surprised that you could even consider sleeping with a man like Kenpachi-san," Aizen said, raising an eyebrow at his smirking friend.

"Only a couple of times when we needed the relief. I believe he and Keigo-san have been talking," Byakuya hummed, waving one hand.

"It seems as if everyone is finding someone to become close to," Aizen sighed, smiling and shaking his head. "I'm finding it cute."

"Oh, it is. I spoke with Shinji this morning to see how he and Ichigo are fairing and he was sounding rather smug about things at the time. It was quite interesting, especially since I heard Ichigo-san asking him to get him more aspirin," Byakuya stated, sending his friend a meaningful look.

"Oh, poor Ichigo-san," Aizen snorted, before looking down at his coffee with a narrowed eye gaze. "We aren't drugging our coffee are we?" he asked.

"Hardly. We're just enjoying ourselves," Byakuya snorted. "After all the stress, we deserve it. After all, it is amazing that so many of our people are finding someone to date, or at the least fuck, since this case has started," he mused.

"Indeed it is," Aizen hummed, smiling softly at his friend. "I know that Shinji has been trying to get Ichigo to go out with him for nearly a year and a half," he continued. "Now that he has him, I doubt that he'll let him go anytime soon."

"There is also Kensei and Shuuhei-san. Then again, if you had seen him when they first met, that pairing wouldn't be much of a surprise," Aizen said, smiling softly at the memory of that meeting.

"I would have loved to see Ichigo-san rip into her for being a sexist woman," Byakuya snorted, shaking his head with bright, laughing eyes. "He's much feistier then you would expect for being so sweet looking. He hardly looks like someone who would flay your skin from you body with his tongue alone."

"Quite true. With him, his looks work for him, making people underestimate him and allow him to get under a persons skin," Aizen drawled as he lifted his cup in a salute. "Do you suppose Jin underestimates him?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Probably. From what I've seen, Ichigo-san will probably turn the tables on him. I've seen him do it to Shinji-san to get his way," Byakuya drawled, shrugging one shoulder. "I've also heard a few of the insults that he can come up with when he's pissed off about something or another," he continued.

"I've heard some of it myself. When I suggested that he and Shinji-san hide themselves in the house, he turned his tongue onto me. Called me a sorry, saggy ball sack that should be cut up and stuck in lemon juice and salt," Aizen admitted.

"Smart idea there, Aizen," Byakuya drawled, eyeing the coffee pot. Standing up, he started to make a fresh pot as Aizen indulged in a bit of pouting behind him.

"Yes, I know, not one of my better moments," Aizen drawled as his friend poured fresh coffee grounds into a new filter. "Who else has gotten together while I was scribing the interviews?" he asked, slumping in his chair, legs sprawled out before him. Byakuya looked over his shoulder with a raised eyebrow.

"Well, beyond Ichigo-san and Shinji-san getting together, you know about Kensei-san getting together with Shuuhei-san," Byakuya said, turning back to the coffee pot as he poured water into it.

"Which everyone saw coming a mile away," the sprawled out man stated, waving a hand as he drained the last of his drink away.

"Here's one that blind sided everyone. Sado and Gin are together, so much so that Gin is walking a bit bow legged," his friend drawled, eyes dancing as he moved to sit once more. The coffee maker bubbled and dripped behind him as Aizen stared at him with wide eyes, mouth wide open. "Flies in the mouth," Byakuya cooed.

"Damn, you're right. That would blind side anyone," Aizen moaned, wondering if it was too early to start drinking as Byakuyas phone went off.

"Rangiku-chan is willing to help," Byakuya told his friend, getting a moan from the man.


End file.
